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School  and  Home  Education  Monographs 

Edited  by 
W.  C.  Bagley  and  Guy  Montrose  Whipple 

No.  2 


CORPORATION  SCHOOLS 

by 

ALBERT  JAMES  BEATTY,  Ph.  D. 

Bureau  of  Salesmanship  Research, 

Carnegie  Institute  of  Technology; 

Director  of  Education, 

The  American  Rolling  Mill  Co. 


Public  School  Publishing  Company 

Bloomington,  Illinois 

I  g  J  8 


copybight  1918  by 
Public  School  Publishing  Company 


CONTENTS. 


Preface.  [ 

Introduction  by  W.  C.  Bagley. 

^^    ,  Part  One 

Chapter 

I.  Introduction :  the  problem,  the  purpose,  the  plan, 
the  limitations,  the  organization  of  material. 
II.  Historical  Sketch  of  Apprenticeship:  the  rise, 
the  growth,  and  the  decay  of  the  gild  appren- 
ticeship system. 
III.  Public  and  Private  Trade  Schools  and  the  Cor- 
poration School:  the  rise,  the  growth,  the 
organization,  and  the  present  status  of  the 
factory  apprenticeship  school,  the  National 
Association  of  Corporation  Schools.  Typi- 
cal Schools. 

Part  Two 

IV.     The  Efficiency  of  Corporation  Schools  as  Tested 
/  by   the  Business   Concerns   which   Maintain 

Them:   the  five  purposes  for  which  the  cor- 
poration school  is  maintained,  conclusions. 
V.     Comparative  Efficiency  of  Corporation  Schools 
as  to  Instruction:    The  Teachers'  Efficiency 
Score  Card,  the  scoring  of  teachers,  tabulation 
of  results,  conclusions. 
VI.     Comparative  Efficiency  of  Corporation  Schools 
as  to  Motivation  of  Work :  the  motives  avail- 
able for  different  types  of  schools,  the  theory 
of  motivation,  conclusions. 
VII.     Comparative  Efficiency  of  Corporation  Schools 
as  to  Curricula  and  Courses  of  Study:    the 


essential  features  of  curricula,  sample  curric- 
ula, conclusions. 
VIII.  Comparative  Efficiency  of  Corporation  Schools 
as  to  Textbooks  and  Lesson  Sheets:  the 
essential  features  of  a  good  textbook,  text- 
books and  loose  leaf  lesson  sheets  discussed, 
the  faults  of  each,  conclusions. 

Part  Three 

IX.     Summary     of     Conclusions, — The     Cooperative 
School,  a  Solution  of  the  Problem  of  Voca- 
i  tional  Education. 


LIST  OF  TABLES,  ILLUSTRATIONS,  and 
CURRICULA 

Table 

I.     Summary  of  time  spent  and  list  of  particular 

investigations. 
II.     Corporation  continuation  schools.  ^ 

III.  Cooperative  special  training  schools. 

Teachers'  Efficiency  Score  Card. 

IV.  Comparative  scores  made  by  five  students. 

V.     Scores  of  eighteen  corporation  school  teachers. 
VI.     Scores  of  twenty-one  teachers  in  public  secondary 

schools  and  technical  schools. 
VII.     Graphical  representation  of  the  data  of  Tables 
VI  and  VII. 
VIII.     Cooperating  companies  and  schools. 

Curricula 

A.  Mechanics'   short   course,    Packard   Motor   Car 

Company. 

B.  Students'  training  course  in  stock  room,  Western 

Electric  Company. 

C.  Engineering  for  college  graduates,  Western  Elec- 

tric Company. 

D.  Bridge  Engineers,  American  Bridge  Company. 

E.  Union  School  of  Salesmanship,  Boston. 

F.  Electric  Engineering,  University  of  Illinois. 

G.  Scientific,  Crane  Technical  high  school,  Chicago. 


INTRODUCTION 


The  corporation  school  has  been  an  interesting  and 
significant  development  of  American  industry  and 
American  education.  It  has  come  in  response  to  a  real 
need, — a  need  that  was  not  adequately  met  by  existing 
educational  agencies.  Its  growth  has  been  almost  en- 
tirely independent  of  and  apart  from  the  existing 
machinery  of  public  education,  and  for  this  reason  its 
achievements  are  little  known  and  still  less  appreciated 
among  public-school  workers.  But  to  these  workers  and 
to  other  students  of  education  the  corporation  school 
should  be  full  of  significance,  not  only  because  of  the 
light  that  it  throws  upon  the  puzzling  problems  of  voca- 
tional education,  but  also  because  of  its  unique  contri- 
bution to  general  educational  theory.  The  relation  of 
the  economic  motive  to  efficient  learning,  the  educational 
value  of  the  ' '  project, ' '  the  relative  significance  of  *  *  apti- 
tude" and  ''attitude," — these  and  other  questions  dis- 
cussed in  Mr.  Beatty's  monograph  lie  very  close  to  the 
fundamentals. 

Nor  is  the  development  of  the  corporation  school 
without  interest  from  the  more  broadly  administrative 
point  of  view.  Every  form  of  organized  educational 
endeavor  must  be  a  matter  of  concern  for  the  state.  From 
every  point  of  view,  the  direction  and  control  of  educa- 
tional agencies  by  the  public  is  to  be  preferred  in  a  de- 
mocracy to  private  or  corporate  direction  and  control, — 
provided,  of  course,  that  educational  efficiency  reaches 
the  same  standard  in  the  two  cases.  It  is  Mr.  Beatty's 
contention  that  the  cooperative  and  continuation  schools 
could  be  made  to  reflect  the  principal  virtues  of  the  cor- 
poration schools  and  that  the  development  of  coopera- 
tive arrangements  that  will  link  the  public  schools  with 
the  industries  and  occupations  constitutes  the  most  prom- 


ising  line  of  progress  in  the  development  of  vocational 
education.  Whether  or  not  one  agrees  with  this  con- 
clusion, it  is  well  that  there  is  now  available  thife  careful 
and  comprehensive  study  of  what  the  corporation  school 
has  accomplished. 

Mr.  Beatty's  investigations  were  made  under  the 
direction  of  the  late  Professor  Charles  Hughes  Johnston, 
and  such  substantial  contributions  as  this  will  be  the 
tribute  that  would  have  pleased  the  teacher  most  could 
he  have  lived  to  see  the  fruition  of  his  work. 

W.  C.  Bagley. 

New  York  City. 

January  15,  1918. 


PREFACE 


The  problem  of  vocational  education  is  one  of  the 
most  insistent  of  social-economic  questions,  and  while 
the  importance  of  this  problem  has  been  growing  in 
the  public  consciousness  for  the  past  two  decades,  it  still 
awaits  a  satisfactory  solution. 

The  difficulty  of  the  problem  becomes  apparent  when 
we  recall  that  its  solution  has  been  attempted  at  dif- 
ferent times  by  practically  every  important  social,  politi- 
cal and  economic  organization  in  the  land.  The  family, 
the  church,  the  gild,  labor  unions,  manufacturers  associa- 
tions, and  chambers  of  commerce,  the  school,  the 
municipality,  and  the  state,  have  all  proposed  and  tried 
plans  for  vocational  training ;  and  while  these  organiza- 
tions have  accomplished  something  for  individual  cases 
or  larger  groups,  and  have  added  their  part  to  the  cumu- 
lative experience  out  of  which  the  solution  of  the  prob-- 
lem  must  finally  come,  the  ultimate  solution  is  not  yet 
in  sight. 

Those  who  have  offered  solutions  for  the  problem 
may,  without  great  violence  to  the  facts,  be  credited 
with  praiseworthy  motives,  yet  the  history  of  the  strug- 
gle for  vocational  and  industrial  education  has  not  been 
without  its  conflicts  between  different  and  sometimes  op- 
posing interests.  There  have  been  many  misunderstand- 
ings, misinterpretations,  jealousies  and  incriminations. 

One  of  the  most  persistent  and  most  bitterly  waged 
of  these  conflicts  has  been  that  between  the  employers 
of  labor  on  the  one  hand  and  the  employees  on  the  other. 
Ever  since  man  reached  that  stage  in  economic  develop- 
ment when  one  man,  either  by  brute  force  or  by  more 
diplomatic  means,  was  able  to  subdue  his  fellow  and  com- 
mand his  services,  there  has  been  in  evidence  the  selfish 
and  unscrupulous  employer  who  has  wrung  from  his 


workers  the  last  drop  of  life  blood,  for  the  least  wage 
which  would  make  them  profitable;  while  on  the  other 
hand,  there  has  doubtless  always  been  in  evidence  the 
time  server  and  the  shirk. 

Out  of  these  conflicting  interests  which  date  back  to 
a  time  so  remote  that  the  memory  of  man  runneth  not 
to  the  contrary,  there  has  grown  the  modern  conflict 
between  capital  and  labor;  and  one  of  the  most  im- 
portant phases  of  this  conflict  long  has  been,  and  still 
is  the  question  of  vocational  training. 

Capitalist  and  philanthropist  have  not  always  been  em- 
bodied in  the  same  individual,  but  even  when  they  have 
been  so  united,  and  an  honest  effort  has  been  made  to 
provide  adequate  training  for  industrial  workers,  there 
has  always  been  the  fear  on  the  part  of  the  workers 
that  this  apparent  and  specious  philanthropy  was  in 
reality  only  an  effort  to  make  the  working  class  more 
subservient  and  more  profitable  to  their  employers. 

Whether  this  fear  has  been  justified  is  not  the  prov- 
ince of  this  treatise,  but  its  existence  and  its  influence 
must  be  noted.  Perhaps  the  best  statement  of  the  attitude 
of  organized  labor  toward  this  question  was  made  by 
President  Samuel  Gompers  of  the  American  Federation 
of  Labor.i  He  says,  ''A  great  part  of  my  life  has  been 
devoted  to  combating  wrong  notions  about  the  attitude 
or  organized  labor  toward  social  and  economic  questions. 
.  Organized  labor  does  not  oppose  the  develop- 
ment of  industrial  education  in  the  public  schools  but  is 
eager  to  cooperate  in  this  reform.  (The  working  man 
has  too  little  time  and  can  therefore  take  little  interest 
in  any  other  sort  of  education,)  but  it  will  continue  to 
oppose  the  exploitation  of  labor,  even  when  that  ex- 
ploitation is  done  under  the  name  of  industrial  education. 

' '  Organized  labor  cannot  favor  any  scheme  of  indus- 
trial education  which  is  lop-sided — any  scheme  which 
would  bring  trained  men  into  any  trade  without  regard 

^Eighth  An.  Conv.  N.  S.  P.  I.  E. 
9 


to  the  demand  for  labor  in  that  trade.  Industrial  edu- 
cation must  maintain  a  fair  and  proper  apportionment 
of  the  supply  of  labor  power  to  the  demand  for  labor 
power  in  every  line  of  work.  Otherwise  the  advantage 
will  be  neutralized.  If,  for  example,  the  result  of  in- 
dustrial education  is  to  produce  in  any  community  a 
greater  number  of  trained  machinists  than  is  needed  in 
that  community,  those  machinists  cannot  derive  any 
benefit  from  their  training  since  they  cannot  obtain 
employment  except  at  economic  disadvantages.  Under 
these  conditions  industrial  education  is  a  distinct  injury 
to  the  journeymen  who  are  subjected  to  keen  competition 
artificially  produced. 

''Industrial  education  must  meet  the  needs  of  the 
worker  as  well  as  the  employer  by  maintaining  an  equili- 
brium of  supply  and  demand  of  efficient  artisans. 

' '  How  shall  such  an  equilibrium  be  maintained  ?  The 
answer  seems  obvious.  There  is  only  one  way  to  avoid 
this  difficulty  in  spite  of  the  very  best  intentions  to 
benefit  labor.  The  only  way  to  avoid  working  an  in- 
jury to  labor  under  the  name  of  industrial  education 
is  to  find  out  what  is  the  demand  for  labor  in  the  com- 
munity. Industrial  education  should  in  every  instance 
be  based  upon  a  survey  of  the  industries  of  the  com- 
munity. Upon  such  a  basis  the  public  schools  may  prop- 
erly provide  for  the  particular  industrial  needs  of  the 
community,  benefiting  both  the  laborer  and  the  com- 
munity. I  can  assure  you  that  nowhere  will  working 
men  oppose  such  an  effort  to  make  our  schools  more 
democratic  in  serving  the  real  bread  and  butter  needs 
of  the  community. 

**  Organized  labor  has  been  for  years  active  in  its 
effort  to  make  the  public  schools  do  precisely  that  which 
some  misinformed  people  even  think  labor  opposes.  In 
1903  the  American  Federation  of  Labor  at  its  annual 
convention  appointed  a  committee  on  education,  and 
the  sort   of  education  which  was  under  consideration 


when  this  committee  was  appointed  was  industrial  edu- 
cation. The  members  of  the  trade  unions  felt  the  need 
of  industrial  education,  and  this  sort  of  education  was 
not  provided  by  the  public  schools.  The  trade  unions 
whose  members  paid  taxes  to  support  the  public  schools 
were  not  getting  the  sort  of  education  which  would 
enable  them  to  become  skilled,  efficient  and  better  paid 
workingmen.  They  were  getting,  in  so  far  as  they  got 
any  thing  at  all,  a  sort  of  education  which  had  for  them 
very  little  value,  and  they  therefore  considered  the  possi- 
bility of  a  scheme  of  education  which  would  be  of  value 
to  them. 

''Now  when  the  public  school  comes  forward  with 
propositions  to  provide  the  sort  of  education  needed  by 
workingmen,  they  will  welcome  any  such  development. 

''In  1904,  and  again  in  1905  and  1906  the  American 
Federation  of  Labor  resolved  that  'We  do  endorse  any 
policy  and  any  society,  or  association  having  for  its  ob- 
ject the  raising  of  the  standard  of  industrial  education'. 
These  committees  resolved  in  favor  of  'the  best  oppor- 
tunities for  complete  industrial  and  technical  education '. 
In  1909  a  resolution  was  adopted  stating  that  'since 
technical  education  is  a  public  necessity  it  should  not 
be  a  private  but  a  public  function,  conducted  by  the 
public  and  supported  by  the  public'. 

"Documentary  proof  that  organized  labor  has  for 
years  been  actively  in  favor  of  industrial  education  in 
the  public  schools  is  found  through  all  the  annual  reports 
of  the  American  Federation  of  Labor  beginning  with 
1903  and  extending  to  the  present  time. ' ' 

One  of  the  organizations  approved  by  the  American 
Federation  of  Labor  for  its  activity  in  fostering  voca- 
tional education  is  the  National  Society  for  the  Promo- 
tion of  Industrial  Education. 

This  society  organized  in  1906  has  taken  a  leading 
part  in  securing  municipal,  state  and  national  legislation 

11 


for  vocational  education.     Th^  work  of  the  Society  is 
founded  upon  the  following  principles : 

(1)  The  state  should  have  the  responsibility  for  the 
training  and  educational  welfare  of  all  children  until 
they  become  at  least  sixteen  years  of  age. 

(2)  No  child  under  sixteen  years  of  age  should  be 
permitted  to  go  to  work  unless  he  is  at  least  fourteen 
years  of  age  and  has  reached  a  minimum  educational 
standard  not  less  than  that  necessary  to  meet  the  test 
for  entering  the  sixth  grade  of  the  regular  schools  or  its 
equivalent. 

(3)  All  children  between  fourteen  and  sixteen  years 
of  age  should  be  compelled  either  to  attend  school  or  to 
enter  employment,  and  when  not  employed  should  be 
required  to  return  to  school. 

(4)  Specialized  forms  of  vocational  education 
should  be  provided  for  children  over  fourteen  years  of 
age  who  desire  or  need  such  training. 

(5)  Where  state-wide  action  is  not  yet  practicable, 
local  communities  should  be  authorized  by  law  to  decide 
either  by  a  referendum  to  voters  or  by  the  action  of  a 
local  board  of  control,  whether  children  between  fourteen 
and  sixteen  years  of  age,  employed  during  the  day, 
should  be  required  to  attend  part-time  classes  for  a 
period  of  not  less  than  four  hours  a  week  out  of  their 
working  time. 

(6)  As  fast  as  conditions  permit,  we  should  move 
in  every  state  toward  state-wide  compulsory  part-time 
education  for  those  between  fourteen  and  sixteen  years 
of  age,  who  are  employed  as  wage-workers. 

The  most  important  single  result  for  vocational  edu- 
cation which  the  Society  has  helped  to  attain  is  the 
passage  by  Congress  in  February  1917  of  the  Smith- 
Hughes  Bill  for  Vocational  Education.  This  law  pro- 
vides for  Federal  aid  to  the  states  which  decide  to  avail 
themselves  of  its  provisions.    This  aid  from  the  Federal 

12 


government  is  for  three  specific  purposes :  (A)  Salaries 
for  agricultural  teachers,  (B)  Salaries  for  trade,  in- 
dustrial and  home-economics  teachers,  and  (C)  Train- 
ing of  teachers  of  vocational  subjects.  It  is  provided 
that  the  Federal  aid  shall  not  be  more  than  half  of  the 
amount  spent  in  any  state  for  these  purposes,  and  that 
before  any  aid  is  available  from  the  Federal  government, 
the  state  must  first  raise,  appropriate  and  spend  for 
vocational  education  an  amount  equal  to  that  it  proposes 
to  secure  from  the  Federal  fund. 

The  effects  of  this  Federal  effort  toward  the  goal  of 
universal  vocational  training  are  not  yet  apparent.  In 
the  meantime,  while  this  new  organization  is  being  put 
into  operation,  the  present  inadequate  and  cumbersome 
machinery  for  vocational  training  must  still  be  kept  in 
running  order. 

One  of  these  recognized  means  of  vocational  educa- 
tion is  the  Corporation  School,  the  subject  of  this  study. 
This  type  of  school  had  its  origin  in  the  failure  of  the 
older  means  of  apprenticeship  to  supply  an  adequate 
number  of  trained  men  to  meet  the  demands  of  the  grow- 
ing factory  system,  and  in  the  failure  of  other  and  older 
educational  institutions  to  assume  the  responsibility  of 
supplying  this  training.  The  Corporation  School  is  the 
answer  of  large  business  and  industrial  concerns  to  their 
own  demand  for  industrial  and  vocational  training. 

The  corporation  school  lacks  many  of  the  advantages 
of  older  and  better  organized  educational  institutions, 
but  it  enjoys  a  certain  perspective  and  a  distinctive  atti- 
tude on  the  part  of  its  students  which  compensates  in 
a  large  measure  for  its  evident  limitations.  These  ad- 
vantages, this  perspective  and  this  student  attitude, 
make  up  an  important  part  of  this  comparative  study. 

A.  J.  Beatty. 
Carnegie  Institute  of  Technology, 
Pittsburgh,  Pa. 

13 


A    COMPARATIVE    STUDY    OF    CORPORATION 

SCHOOLS  AS  TO  THEIR  ORGANIZATION 

ADMINISTRATION,  AND  METHODS 

OF  INSTRUCTION 

PART  ONE 

Chapter  I 

Introduction 

This  volume  is  the  outgrowth  of  the  author 's  partici- 
pation in  the  almost  universal  interest  in  vocational 
training  which  has  developed  in  recent  years  amongst 
all  classes  of  people.  It  describes  a  survey  of  a  single  type 
of  organization  for  vocational  education  known  as  the 
corporation  school.  It  is  an  investigation  of  the  train- 
ing of  apprentices  and  other  employees  as  this  training 
is  at  present  conducted  by  those  business  concerns  in 
the  United  States  which  undertake  to  prepare  their 
new  employees  for  efficient  service  and  their  old  em- 
ployees for  better  service. 

The  purposes  of  this  volume  are :  first,  to  trace  briefly 
the  rise  and  the  decline  of  the  old  trade-apprenticeship 
system;  second;  to  describe  briefly  the  rise,  the  growth, 
and  the  present  status  of  factory  apprenticeship  schools ; 
third,  to  study  the  corporation  schools  of  the  United 
States  from  the  point  of  view  of  their  efficiency ;  fourth, 
to  show  hosLgorporation  school  directors  and  instructors 
may  make  a  greater  use  of  such  psychological  and  peda- 
gogical principles  as  the  experience  of  public  secondary 
schools  and  technical  schools  has  shown  to  be  valuable; 
and  fifth,  to  discover  if  possible  in  what  mnnner  rorp^^f^- 
tion  schools  on  the  one  hand  and  public  secondary  schools 

15 


16  Study  of  Corporation  Schools 

helpful  in  the  solution  of  the  problem  of  vocational  edu- 
cation. 

With  these  purposes  in  mind,  the  author  has,  during 
the  past  two  years,  personally  visited  a  large  number 
of  corporation  schools  in  the  Middle  West,  studied  their 
organization,  visited  their  classes,  and  observed  their 
methods  of  instruction;  and  from  a  much  wider  field 
than  it  has  been  possible  to  survey  personally,  he  has 
examined  in  detail  their  textbooks  and  lesson  sheets,  their 
curricula  and  courses  of  study. 

An  adequate  treatment  of  the  corporation  school 
movement  requires  first,  a  survey  of  the  literature  re- 
lating to  such  schools.  This  literature  is  not  large,  and 
consists  mainly  of  magazine  articles  describing  individ- 
ual schools,  in  reports  of  surveys  of  vocational  education 
made  by  governmental  or  local  authorities,  and  in  the 
volumes  of  annual  reports  of  such  organizations  as  the 
National  Society  for  the  Promotion  of  Industrial  Edu- 
cation and  the  National  Association  of  Corporation 
Schools. 

A  second  preliminary  step  in  the  preparation  of  this 
volume  was  to  initiate  a  systematic  gathering  of  in- 
formation both  by  personal  visitation  and  by  corres- 
pondence. Shortly  after  beginning  to  gather  this  in- 
formation, the  author  learned  that  the  National  Associa- 
tion of  Corporation  Schools,^  through  one  of  its  commit- 
tees, was  undertaking  to  gather  practically  the  same  in- 
formation as  that  desired  for  this  investigation,  and  an 
arrangement  was  made  whereby  the  author  assisted  this 
committee  in  collecting,  tabulating,  and  interpreting  the 
data  with  the  understanding  that  he  might  use  for  this 
volume  any  of  the  data  collected.  During  the  year  1916-17 
the  author  has  been  a  regularly  appointed  member  of  this 
committee  and  is  still  acting  in  that  capacity. 


iRefs.    19,    27,    31,    33.      (References   are   numbered   serially    In   each 
chapter. ) 


Introduction  17 

This  appointment  has  been  fortunate,  for  as  a  mem- 
ber of  this  committee, — the  Committee  on  Special  Train- 
ing Schools, — the  author  has  had  the  cooperation  and  ad- 
vice of  the  other  members  of  the  committee  who  are  recog- 
nized experts  in  this  field.  He  has  had  access  also  to  a 
vast  quantity  of  the  educational  materials  of  these 
schools,  and  to  much  confidential  information  which  he 
otherwise  could  not  have  obtained.  He  has  also  been  the 
recipient  of  many  favors  at  the  hands  of  corporation 
officials  and  corporation  school  directors. 

Throughout  this  investigation,  comparisons  have  con- 
stantly been  made  with  public  school  organization,  ad- 
ministration, and  practice;  and  an  attempt  has  been 
made  to  discuss  these  observations  in  such  a  manner  as 
to  enable  administrators  and  instructors  of  both  public 
and  corporation  schools  to  profit,  not  only  by  their  own 
inadequacies  but  also  by  the  points  of  superiority  of  the 
other  type  of  school. 

This  study  has  not  been  limited  to  the  collection  and 
evaluation  of  statistical  data,  nor  have  the  conclusions 
reached  been  drawn  wholly  or  largely  from  such  data, 
though  they  are  frequently  reinforced  by  such  statistical 
information  as  is  available.  Such  a  statistical  study,  if 
feasible,  would  be  highly  valuable,  but  the  comparative 
recency  of  the  corporation  school  movement,  and  the  lack 
of  a  recognized  system  or  uniformity  in  keeping  the  rec- 
ords of  these  schools  make  such  a  study  impossible. 

This  is  not  a  discussion  of  the  need  of  industrial  train- 
ing. This  need  has  already  demanded  and  received  a 
large  place  in  the  educational  literature  of  the  past  three 
decades, 2  and  numerous  societies  have  been  formed  for 
the  purpose  of  fostering  industrial  training.^ 

This  is  not  a  history  of  apprenticeship,  though  it  has 
seemed  necessary  to  preface  it  with  a  brief  historical 


»Ref.  2,  Chap.  VII.     Refs.  24,  28,  29. 
"Refs.  28,   30. 


18  Study  op  Corporation  Schools 

sketch  of  apprenticeship  (Chapter  II)  as  a  background 
or  point  of  departure.  The  history  of  apprentice- 
ship is  a  most  tempting  topic,  but  that  history  has 
been  written  in  a  number  of  extensive  studies,*  and  the 
real  purpose  of  this  study  precludes  more  than  a  brief 
excursion  into  any  subsidiary  fields  however  inviting 
they  may  be. 

The  material  of  this  volume  is  organized  into  three 
parts:  Part  One,  comprising  Chapters  I,  II,  and  III  is 
a  preliminary  survey  of  the  field;  Part  Two,  consisting 
of  Chapters  IV  to  VIII  inclusive,  is  the  main  body  of  the 
work;  Part  Three,  consisting  of  Chapter  IX,  is  a  sum- 
mary of  the  conclusions  reached  and  a  discussion  of  them. 

•Chapter  I  sets  forth  the  general  plan  of  the  investi- 
gation. 

Chapter  II  is  a  historical  sketch  of  apprenticeship. 
It  traces  briefly  the  rise,  the  character,  and  the  causes 
of  the  decline  of  the  old  craft-apprenticeship ;  it  empha- 
sizes the  economic  and  social  character  of  the  institution 
of  apprenticeship,  and  the  economic,  social,  and  indus- 
trial evolution  which  has  demanded  a  new  system  of  ap- 
prenticeship. 

Chapter  III  recites  the  principal  causes  which  led  to 
the  factory  apprenticeship  system,  and  traces  the  estab- 
lishment of  private  and  public  trade  and  technical  schools 
and  the  factory  apprenticeship  school.  This  chapter  in- 
troduces the  materials  and  facts  which  have  been  col- 
lected by  the  author  in  his  personal  visitation  of  corpor- 
ation schools.  It  treats  of  the  organization  and  the  work 
of  the  National  Association  of  Corporation  Schools  and 
shows  the  growing  interest  of  business  concerns  in  the 
training  of  their  employees.  It  describes  the  various 
types  of  corporation  schools  differentiated  to  meet  differ- 
ent needs.  It  cites  the  fact  that  the  trade  apprenticeship 
school  and  the  school  of  retail  salesmanship  touch  two 

«Refs.  1-8. 


Introduction  19 

very  large  and  important  groups  of  workers,  and  sug- 
gests that  so  far  as  the  interests  of  these  groups  are  con- 
cerned, the  point  of  helpful  contact  between  the  corpora- 
tion school  and  the  public  school  is  to  be  found  in  some 
form  of  cooperative  organization. 

Part  Two  presents  the  detailed  information  which 
the  writer  has  collected  in  pursuing  this  study  which  has 
occupied  a  large  part  of  his  time  for  two  years.  The 
following  summary  shows  something  of  the  extent  of 
the  study,  though  it  makes  no  account  of  the  amount 
of  committee  work  which  the  writer  has  performed. 

TABLE    I. 

Number  of  corporation  schools  and  company  officials  with  whom  cor- 
respondence has  been   carried  on 49 

Number  of  corporation  school  and  company  officials  interviewed 41 

Number  of  corporation  schools  visited 28 

Number  of  public  secondary  schools  and  technical  schools  visited 19 

Number  of  cooperative  schools  visited 8 

Number  of  days  spent  in  visiting  corporation  schools 10 

Number  of  days  spent  in  visiting  public  secondary  schools  and  tech- 
nical schools 20 

Number  of  'teacher  efficiency'  scorings  made  in  corporation  schools 19 

Number  of  'teacher  efficiency'  scorings  made  in  public  secondary  schools 

and  technical  schools 39 

Number  of  schools  whose  curricula  and  courses  have  been  examined.  .  .  .46 
Number  of  corporation  school  courses  for  which  sets  of  lesson  sheets 

have   been    examined 31 

Number  of  'corporation  school'  textbooks  examined 27 

Number  of  other  textbooks  examined 75 

Number  of  corporation  school  classrooms  and  shops  visited 44 

Number   of   public   secondary   school   and   technical    school    classrooms 

visited 46 


In  Part  Two  the  author  undertakes  to  determine  the 
efficiency  of  corporation  schools :  to  compare  the  corpora- 
tion school  on  the  one  hand  with  public  secondary  schools 
and  technical  schools  on  the  other  and  to  show  how  the 
work  of  these  two  types  of  schools  may  be  mutually 
helpful  in  the  solution  of  the  problem  of  vocational  edu- 
cation. 


20  Study  of  Corporation  Schools 

Chapter  IV  introduces  the  main  part  of  the  treatise 
and  undertakes  to  show  the  efficiency  of  corporation 
schools  as  determined  by  such  standards  as  are  set  up  by 
business  concerns  themselves.  The  aims  advanced  by 
business  concerns  in  the  establishment  of  training  de- 
partments are :  first,  to  develop  to  the  limit  the  efficiency 
of  the  individual  employee;  and  second,  to  increase  in- 
dustrial efficiency  in  general.  They  determine  this  effi- 
ciency by  the  extent  to  which  they  contribute  to  the  fol- 
lowing results:  first,  an  increased  supply  of  trained 
employees;  second,  an  increase  in  the  number  of  men 
qualified  for  promotion;  third,  an  improved  product; 
fourth,  a  decreased  turnover  of  labor;  and  fifth,  less 
waste  of  materials  and  fewer  accidents. 

Chapter  V  describes  that  part  of  this  survey  in  which 
the  corporation  schools  have  been  compared  with  public 
secondary  schools  and  technical  schools  in  the  matter  of 
instruction.  It  describes  in  detail  the  "teachers'  effi- 
ciency" score  card  which  has  been  '  developed  and  which 
embodies  the  ten  points  used  as  a  basis  of  making  this 
comparison ;  and  sets  forth  in  detail  the  procedure  and 
the  results  of  this  scoring. 

Chapter  VI  is  a  discussion  of  motives.  It  treats  of 
the  various  motives  available  for  both  types  of  schools, 
and  undertakes  to  show  that  corporation  schools  have  an 
advantage  over  the  other  type  of  schools  in  certain  mo- 
tives which  seem  to  be  inherent  in  the  corporation  school. 

Chapter  VII  is  a  comparison  of  the  courses  of  study 
and  curricula  used  in  corporation  schools  with  those  used 
in  public  secondary  schools  and  technical  schools.  This 
comparison  is  based  upon  an  examination  of  the  outlines 
of  courses  and  curricula  found  in  the  literature  secured 
from  these  schools,  and  is  made  on  three  points :  logical 
arrangement  of  courses  and  course-topics,  time  allotments 
to  various  courses  and  course-topics,  and  appropriateness 
of  subject  matter. 


Introduction  21 

Chapter  VIII  is  a  comparison  of  the  two  types  of 
schools  as  to  lesson-sheets  and  textbooks.  Such  principles 
of  textbook  making  as  seem  to  be  commonly  recognized 
are  formulated,  and  the  lesson-sheets  and  textbooks  which 
have  been  secured  from  both  types  of  schools  have  been 
examined  in  the  light  of  these  principles. 

Part  Three,  consisting  of  Chapter  IX,  is  a  considera- 
tion of  the  fundamental  principles  which  govern  the 
character  of  education  in  a  democracy,  and  a  discussion 
of  the  inadequacy  of  the  corporation  school  in  the  light 
of  these  principles  as  a  solution  of  the  problem  of  voca- 
tional education.  This  chapter  summarizes  the  conclu- 
sions reached  in  the  chapters  of  Part  One  and  Part  Two, 
and  shows  how  the  cooperative  trade  and  continuation 
school  which  may  be  made  to  embody  the  points  of  ad- 
vantage of  both  corporation  schools  on  the  one  hand,  and 
of  public  secondary  schools  and  technical  schools  on  the 
other,  offers  the  nearest  approach  to  the  solution  of  the 
problem  of  vocational  education. 


22  Study  of  Corporation  Schools 


Chapter  II. 
Historical  Sketch  of  Apprenticeship 

Business  concerns  have  not  usually  been  credited  with 
philanthropic  motives,  and  their  assumption  of  the  re- 
sponsibility for  the  training  of  their  employees  has  not 
usually  been  attributed  to  philanthropy.  This  task  has 
been  undertaken  as  a  matter  of  necessity  which  has  grown 
out  of  economic  and  social  conditions. 

The  most  important  of  these  factors  are,  the  decline 
of  the  old  apprenticeship  system^  which  was  so  successful 
in  the  small  shop  of  the  past  which,  within  the  last  gen- 
eration has  given  way  to  the  factory ;  and  the  inability 
of  other  organized  means  of  education  to  provide  in  an 
adequate  measure  that  specific  trade  and  vocational  train- 
ing demanded  in  the  modern  factory. 

The  apprenticeship  of  the  gild  system  which  served 
tradesmen  so  well  in  the  past,  but  which  is  to  the  present 
generation  in  America  almost  unknown,  had  its  origin 
in  the  social  and  industrial  fabric  of  a  time  so  remote  that 
the  earliest  historians  speak  of  it  as  a  matter  of  course.^ 

* '  The  craft  gild  or  trade  gilds  of  the  Middle  Ages  had 
their  origin  in  necessity.  All  sorts  of  industrial  frauds 
and  shoddy  workmanship  were  practiced  by  the  more 
irresponsible  artisans,  and  the  gilds  were  originally 
formed  to  protect  their  members  against  unskilled  and 
dishonest  labor. '  '^ 

Apprenticeship  reached  its  greatest  success  as  a  means 
of  training  skilled  workmen  in  England  and  on  the  Con- 
tinent during  the  fifteenth  and  the  sixteenth  centuries.* 


>Ref.  81,  p.  121. 
»Ref8.  10,  11,  12. 
•Ref.  13,  p.  100. 
«Ref.  1,  8,  4. 


Apprenticeship  23 

But  even  at  its  best  the  gild  apprenticeship  system  was 
not  a  complete  or  satisfactory  solution  of  the  industrial 
situation  of  the  period.  True,  it  did  furnish  to  the  young 
man  who  was  fortunate  enough  to  secure  an  apprentice- 
ship, not  only  the  mastery  of  a  skilled  trade  but  also 
access  to  the  only  practical  education  of  the  times,  and  a 
social  standing  fully  equal  to  that  of  his  master.  Masters 
were  required  not  only  to  teach  the  apprentice  his  trade 
and  to  furnish  him  good  food,  clothing,  and  shelter,  but 
also  to  educate  him  and  to  give  him  religious  instruction.^ 
The  English  apprentice  from  the  Fourteenth  to  the  Six- 
teenth centuries  became  to  all  intents  and  purposes,  dur- 
ing his  apprenticeship,  a  member  of  his  master's  house- 
hold, entitled  to  participate  in  all  social  activities  upon  a 
perfect  equality  with  his  master's  family. 

The  price  the  apprentice  paid  for  these  privileges  was 
not  small.  It  included  in  some  cases,  the  payment  of  a 
very  considerable  sum  of  money^  and  the  giving  of  a 
bond  to  remain  in  the  service  of  his  master  usually  for  a 
period  of  seven  years  without  wages  or  other  remunera- 
tion than  that  mentioned  above.  It  was  a  big  price  to 
pay  for  the  learning  of  a  trade  but  there  was  no  other 
way.  Apprenticeship  was  the  only  door  through  which 
one  could  become  a  master  or  even  a  journeyman  entitled 
to  ply  a  skilled  trade.  The  privileges  of  skilled  workmen 
and  masters  were  a  much  desired  goal  but  the  journey 
thereto  was  long,  arduous  and  expensive. 

This  golden  age  of  apprenticeship  corresponds  very 
closely  to  the  period  of  cathedral  building  on  the  con- 
tinent, and  the  high  character  of  the  craftsmanship  is 
still  attested  by  many  of  those  noble  structures. 

The  regulation  of  apprenticeship  was  usually  exer- 
cised by  the  gilds,  or  craft  gilds,  which  included  all  the 
members  of  any  particular  craft  in  each  town  or  parish, 


'Ref.    1,   pp.   50   et.   seq. 
•Ref.  1,  Chapter  II. 


24  Study  op  Corporation  Schools 

and  which  usually  ruled  with  an  iron  hand.  The  weavers, 
the  dyers,  the  spinners,  the  goldsmiths,  the  carpenters, 
and  the  workers  in  practically  every  skilled  trade  were 
organized  into  craft  gilds  which  controlled  not  only  the 
work  of  their  particular  trades  but  the  individual  and 
social  life  of  the  members  as  well. 

Ad  stated  above,  the  apprenticeship  system  was  not  a 
complete  or  satisfactory  solution  of  the  industrial  prob- 
lem. At  the  very  time  when  the  system  was  at  its  best  the 
lower  strata  of  society, — the  serfs  and  the  unskilled  la- 
borers— were  without  education  or  training  of  any  kind, 
and  their  suffering  and  degradation  were  almost  beyond 
description.  At  the  same  time,  the  gentry  as  a  class  were 
densely  ignorant  of  any  useful  occupations  and  lived  in 
idleness,  filth  and  vice.'' 

The  stratification  of  society  was  horizontal  and  dis- 
tinct, and  the  oppression  and  misery  of  the  lower  strata 
resulted  partly  from  the  upper  class,  the  gentry,  but  most 
of  all  from  the  middle  class  dominated  by  the  gilds.^ 

The  decline  of  the  golden  age  of  the  gilds  and  of  ap- 
prenticeship dates  from  the  middle  of  the  Sixteenth  Cen- 
tury, and  may  be  attributed,  in  part  at  least,  to  the  arro- 
gance of  the  gilds  and  to  the  restrictions  which  they 
placed  upon  skilled  labor.  "Limitation  of  the  number 
of  apprentices  and  the  long  term  of  apprenticeship  re- 
sulted in  prejudice  against  the  gilds  and  a  resulting  un- 
willingness to  recognize  the  privileges  enjoyed  by  the 
gilds. '^9 

The  specific  events  which  mark  the  beginning  of  the 
decline  of  apprenticeship  in  England  are:  the  passage 
of  the  Artificers  Act,  or  the  Statute  of  Apprenticeship, 
ai9  it  is  called  by  some  writers,* <^  in  1562 ;  and  the  law  of 
1601,  making  it  compulsory  upon  free  holders  and  mas- 

'Eef.  14. 

•B«f.  15,  p.  8-4,  and  276. 
•R«f.  2a.  pp.  91,  92. 
>*B«f.  4.  p.  88. 


Apprenticeship  25 

ters  to  accept  as  apprentices  such  beggar  children  as 
might  be  designated  by  the  parish  clerk.^  ^ 

The  former  of  these  laws  provided :  first,  for  govern- 
ment control  of  the  amount  of  wages  which  might  be  de- 
manded/^  thus  prohibiting  the  extortion  frequently 
charged  to  gilds;  second,  a  seven-year  apprenticeship 
open  only  to  the  sons  of  freemen,  and  prohibiting  any 
one^^  not  having  served  an  apprenticeship  from  carrying 
on  any  craft ;  and  third,  the  appointment  of  government 
officers  to  enforce  the  regulation  of  the  gilds.  The  pre- 
amble of  this  law  states  that  its  object  was  to  reenact,  to 
codify,  and  enforce  the  many  regulations  which  had  been 
permitted  by  gild  influence  to  become  inoperative.^  ^ 

Writers  disagree  as  to  the  effect  of  the  Artificers  Act 
upon  the  gilds,  ^^  but  whether  due  to  the  operation  of  this 
act  or  not,  the  influence  of  the  gilds  waned  steadily  after 
the  Sixteenth  Century. 

The  second  law,  called  the  Act  of  1601,  entitled  An 
Act  for  the  Relief  of  the  Poor,  elevated  the  apprentice- 
ship system  to  a  position  of  great  economic  importance 
while  it  produced  an  almost  exactly  opposite  effect  ulti- 
mately, upon  the  gilds.^^  The  fifth  section  of  this  law 
provided  that,  ''parish  authorities  may  bind  out  such 
poor  children,  male  and  female,  as  apprentices  until  they 
arrived  at  the  age  of  maturity. '  '^"^  This  law  had  the  effect 
of  continuing  the  institution  of  apprenticeship  at  a  time 
when  the  gilds  were  on  the  decline.  In  fact  the  operation 
of  this  law  had  much  to  do  with  this  decline.  The  ultimate 
influence  upon  apprenticeship,  however,  was  unfavor- 
able. Naturally  the  great  increase  in  the  number  of  ap- 
prentices resulting  from  this  law  had  its  counterpart  in 

«Ref.  1,  p.  66. 

«Ref.  4,  p.  91. 

»Ref.  4,  p.  103. 

"Ref.  4. 

»Ref.  4.   Chap.   III. 

»«Ref.  16,  Chap.  VI.  p.  322. 

"Ref.  1,  p.  61. 


26  Study  of  Cobpoeation  Schools 

a  deterioration  of  the  system.  Masters,  no  longer  subject 
to  gild  regulations,  neglected  the  education  of  their  ap- 
prentices, and  denied  them  the  social  equality  of  the 
home.  No  general  law  to  compel  masters  to  attend  to  the 
education  of  ''parish"  apprentices,  aside  from  craft  in- 
struction, was  enacted  in  England  until  1802.^^ 

Other  influences  which  contributed  to  the  decline  of 
apprenticeship  were:  the  rise  of  the  rural  industries; 
the  waning  influence  of  the  gilds  owing  to  the  rapid  in- 
crease of  skilled  labor,  making  it  impossible  for  the  gilds 
to  control  longer  the  price  or  the  conditions  of  labor; 
and  later,  the  rise  of  capitalism  and  the  factory  sys- 
tem. This  decline  covers  the  period  from  the  middle  of 
the  Sixteenth  Century  to  the  present  time.  While  the 
number  of  apprentices  was  greatly  increased  as  the  result 
of  the  act  of  1601,  during  the  Seventeenth  Century  the 
efficiency  of  the  apprenticeship  declined  rapidly  from  the 
points  of  view  of  industry  and  of  social  welfare.  Since 
the  Seventeenth  Century  the  number  of  apprentices  ha.s 
gradually  decreased,  while  the  demand  for  skilled  trades- 
men has  uniformly  increased. 

The  industrial  history  of  this  period  of  decline  is 
marked  by  such  dark  pages  as  child  labor  and  the  debtor's 
prison.  1^  The  larger  number  of  apprentices  and  the  de- 
cline of  the  vigilance  of  the  gilds  in  governing  the  treat- 
ment of  apprentices,  made  it  possible  for  unscrupulous 
masters  to  take  large  numbers  of  apprentices,  and  then 
by  economies  in  feeding,  housing,  and  educating  them  to 
make  their  services  extremely  profitable.  In  these  condi- 
tions is  found  the  origin  of  the  almost  unbelievable  evils 
of  child  labor  in  the  Nineteenth  Century  in  the  factories 
of  England  and  the  United  States.^o 

What  has  been  said  of  apprenticeship  in  England  and 
on  the  Continent  applies  in  a  large  measure  to  the  United 


"Ref.  1,  p.  61. 

"Ref.  1,  pp.  62  et  aeq. 

"Ref.  17,  pp.  14  et  aeq. 


Apprenticeship  27 

States.  Trade  apprenticeships,  however,  were  never  so 
common  in  the  United  States  as  in  Europe,  owing  to  the 
advent  of  the  factory  system  before  the  United  States 
had  attained  any  great  importance  as  a  manufacturing 
nation.  The  condition  of  apprentices  and  the  laws  relat- 
ing to  them  in  the  American  colonies  were  generally  more 
favorable  to  the  apprentice  than  in  Europe.  In  Massa- 
chusetts, in  1642,  in  Connecticut,  in  1650,  and  in  Vir- 
ginia, in  Queen  Anne 's  reign,  legislation  provided  for  the 
instruction  of  apprentices  in  reading,  in  the  laws  of  the 
country,  and  in  religion,  over  a  century  before  such  en- 
actments were  made  in  England.^^ 

The  factory  system  in  Europe  was  not  an  outgrowth 
of  the  introduction  of  steam  power  and  labor  saving 
machinery,  but  it  was  the  direct  growth  of  the  newer 
apprenticeship  system  which  developed,  in  part  at  least, 
as  the  result  of  the  Artificers'  Law  and  the  Law  of  1601. 

But  whatever  may  have  been  the  origin  of  the  factory 
system,  it  has,  by  the  division  of  labor,  and  by  the  use  of 
power  machinery,  revolutionized  many  of  the  skilled 
trades.  Now,  instead  of  mastering  a  trade  and  turning 
out  a  finished  product,  the  factory  worker  needs  but  to 
become  an  expert  in  a  single  process,  or  in  the  operation 
of  a  machine  which  makes,  not  a  complete  product,  but 
a  minor  part  of  it.  The  factory  thus  has  a  tendency 
to  develop  piece-workers  rather  than  all-round  mechanics 
or  masters  of  trades,  and  has  resulted  in  an  almost  entire 
discontinuance  of  trade  apprenticeships. 

In  1895,  forty  typical  building-trades  employers  had 
12,000  men  and  only  eighty  regular  apprentices,  though 
the  normal  number  allowed  according  to  union  rules  was 
1,600.22  The  United  States  Census  23  in  1909-10  shows 
a  total  of  77,371  apprentices  in  the  United  States,  or  one 
for  every  322  adult  workers,  when  there  was  approxi- 


^Rei.  1,  p.  61. 
"Ref.  16,  p.  1142. 
^Ret.  23a,  p.  52. 


28  Study  op  Corporation  Schools 

mately  25,000,000  wage  earners  in  occupations  aside  from 
agriculture. 

The  rapid  development  of  labor  saving  machinery  in 
the  Nineteenth  Century,  and  the  growing  complexity  of 
manufacturing  and  marketing  processes  have  created  a 
demand  for  skilled  workmen  in  almost  every  line  of  man- 
ufacture and  business,  far  beyond  the  ability  of  any  here- 
tofore known  method  of  apprenticeship  to  supply.  In 
this  condition  is  found  the  basis  of  the  need  for  a  new 
method  of  apprenticeship.  The  evolution  of  this  new 
method  of  apprenticeship  is  described  in  the  next 
chapter. 


Trade  and  Corporation  Schools  29 


Chapter  III 

Public  and  Private  Trade  Schools,  and  the 
Corporation  School 

The  assumption  by  organized  society  of  the  responsi- 
bility of  teaching  any  new  subject  has  always  been  pre- 
ceded by  private  enterprise  assuming  that  responsibility, ^ 
from  motives  of  either  business  or  philanthropy.  If  the 
private  project  meets  with  success  and  popular  approval, 
the  burden  is  usually  somewhat  tardily  assumed  by  the 
public.  Hence  it  was,  that  long  before  public  sentiment 
had  become  conscious  of  the  duty  of  assuming  the  burden 
of  teaching  the  prospective  industrial  worker  the  rudi- 
ments or  the  mastery  of  a  trade  or  vocation,  first,  trades- 
mens'  organizations  and  later  private  philanthropy  had 
felt  the  need  and  had  provided  for  it  by  establishing  trade 
schools.  Business  concerns  had  also  succumbed  to  the 
pressure  of  necessity  and  had  undertaken  the  task  of 
training  their  young  workers  for  various  positions. 

No  modern  educational  movement  is  destined  to  have 
a  more  far  reaching  effect  upon  public  school  prac- 
tice than  the  corporation  school  movement;  yet  to  the 
average  American  citizen  as  well  as  the  average  public 
school  teacher,  the  corporation  school  is  practically  un- 
known. This  lack  of  common  knowledge  of  the  move- 
ment is  due  in  part  to  its  comparative  newness  for  the 
development  of  the  corporation  school  has  taken  place 
almost  wholly  in  the  past  ten  years. 

Another  cause  for  the  common  lack  of  information 
about  corporation  schools  is,  that  they  have  grown  up 
within  the  walls  of  factories  and  business  houses  to  meet 


iRef.  14,  p.  232. 


30  Study  of  Corporation  Schools 

a  demand  within  these  walls,  and  there  has  been  no  effort 
or  desire  on  the  part  of  the  men  back  of  the  movement 
to  get  into  the  lime  light  or  to  seek  publicity.  The  cor- 
poration school  has  been  developed,  just  as  any  other 
departure  which  has  been  made  for  efficiency's  sake, with- 
out any  thought  of  advertising  the  matter  to  the  public. 

For  these  reasons  it  is  thought  wise  to  undertake  to 
set  forth  in  the  present  chapter  the  administrative  organ- 
ization of  the  typical  corporation  school,  and  to  picture 
in  some  detail  a  few  of  such  schools. 

Notwithstanding  the  above  purpose,  it  must  be  stated 
at  the  outset  that  there  is  no  typical  corporation  school. 
The  whole  movement  is  so  new,  and  individual  schools 
have  grown  up  under  such  diverse  conditions  and  in 
obedience  to  such  different  demands  that  there  are  no 
two  schools  which  have  been  cast  in  the  same  mold,  so 
far  as  the  organization  of  their  curricula  are  concerned. 

This  uniqueness  however,  does  not  appear  quite  so 
noticeably  in  the  organization  of  the  administrative 
machinery  of  the  corporation  school,  for  since  the  Na- 
tional Society  for  the  Promotion  of  Industrial  Educa- 
tion has  taken  an  active  interest  in  the  corporation 
school,  and  especially  since  the  organization  of  the  Na- 
tional Association  of  Corporation  Schools,  numerous  con- 
ferences between  directors  of  corporation  schools  have 
developed  a  recognition  of  the  value  of,  and  in  many 
cases  the  adoption  of  what  may  be  termed  a  typical  ad- 
ministrative organization. 

Administration 

There  is  still  a  great  diversity  in  methods  of  organ- 
ization. In  some  concerns  the  supervision  of  the  educa- 
tional work  is  simply  a  side  line  for  some  one  of  the 
executive  officers  of  the  company ;  in  others,  it  is  attached 
to  the  duties  of  the  welfare  secretary;  while  in  others, 


Trade  and  Corporation  Schools  31 

we  find  a  regularly  appointed  educational  secretary  or 
director  who  devotes  his  entire  time  to  the  administra- 
tion of  the  educational  department.  Some  concerns  have 
an  educational  advisory  committee  to  counsel  with  the 
educational  director. 

Educational  Director. 

The  chief  duties  of  such  an  executive  are — 

(a)  To  organize  the  various   curriculums  and  couses   of  study; 

(b)  To  select  the  instructors  for  the  various  departments; 

(c)  To   supervise  and   criticise   the  methods   of   instruction; 

(d)  To   aid    the   instructors    in    developing   text-books    and  les- 

son-sheets. 

(e)  To  adopt  a  suitable  system  of  records  for  students'   work 

to  show  their  industry,  their  progress  and  attainment. 

(f)  To   select   the   students   for   the   various  courses   and  keep 

in  touch  with  the  sources  of  supply. 

(g)  To  keep  the  higher  officials  of    the  company  informed  as  to 

the  needs,  the  efficiency,  the  results,  and  the  expense 
of  the  work, 
(h)  To  supervise  the  records  of  the  department  in  such  a 
manner  as  to  show  the  costs  of  the  various  courses,  and 
the  various  items  of  increased  efficiency  in  the  concern 
which  may  be  attributed  to  the  work  of  the  department. 

Such  a  program  as  this  demands  a  man  of  no  small 
calibre  and  his  selection  is  a  task  which  requires 
most  careful  consideration.  Unfortunately  the  supply 
of  such  high-grade  men  is  not  equal  to  the  demand  and 
many  corporations  have  been  compelled  to  place  their 
educational  work  in  charge  of  men  who  have  not  had 
sufficient  technical  training  in  school  administration  to 
guarantee  the  highest  efficiency. 

The  demand  for  better  equipped  directors,  as  well  as 
for  teachers  of  corporation  schools,  led  the  National  Asso- 
ciation of  Corporation  Schools  at  its  fifth  annual  conven- 
tion (June  1917)  to  initiate  a  movement  to  supply  this 
demand,  and  the  Association,  through  its  executive  sec- 
retary, Mr.  F.  €.  Henderschott,  in  cooperation  with  Dr. 
Lee  Galloway  of  New  York  University  has  organized  a 
course  of  training  in  that  university  for  the  purpose  of 
fitting  men  for  such  work. 


32  Study  op  Corporation  Schools 

This  step  cannot  fail  to  be  of  inestimable  value  to 
the  corporation  school  movement.  It  is  comparable  in 
possible  effect,  if  not  in  scope,  with  the  work  of  Horace 
Mann  in  securing  the  establishment  of  state  supported 
normal  schools  for  public  school  teachers. 

Most  of  the  men  who  are  in  charge  of  educational 
departments  are  graduates  of  technical  schools  and  in 
the  majority  of  cases  they  are  men  who  have  been  ex- 
ceptionally efficient  in  some  executive  capacity.  While 
these  qualifications  are  highly  necessary,  technical  and 
theoretical  training  in  school  administration  as  viewed 
from  the  standpoint  of  professional  educators  is  also  an 
invaluable  asset  in  such  a  position. 

Selection  of  Students. 

It  was  pointed  out  in  the  preface  that  the  chief  ob- 
jection raised  by  the  American  Federation  of  Labor 
against  the  privately  controlled  vocational  or  industrial 
schools,  is  the  fact  that  the  students  must  be,  or  at  least 
are,  'selected'.  This  selection  is  an  essential  factor  in 
the  organization  of  at  least  one  type  of  corporation 
school  described  elsewhere  in  this  chapter,  viz.,  the  spe- 
cial training  school. 

Just  as  the  selection  of  the  educational  director  is  the 
most  important  duty  of  the  firm  management  with  ref- 
erence to  the  special  training  courses,  so  the  most  impor- 
tant function  of  the  director  is  the  selection  of  students. 
Natural  ability  is  the  most  important  factor  in  the  suc- 
cess of  any  individual,  and  since  the  whole  purpose  of 
the  special  training  school  is  embodied  in  *' higher  effi- 
ciency" of  the  executive  force  of  the  concern  expressed 
in  longer  tenure  and  better  service,  it  becomes  incumbent 
upon  the  educational  director  to  select  only  such  men  as 
show  a  high  degree  of  native  ability  reinforced  by  tech- 
nical training. 


Trade  and  Corporation  Schools  33 

Whether  the  selection  of  students  should  be  limited 
to  college  graduates  is  a  question  upon  which  there  is 
no  agreement.  There  is  no  method  of  determining  which 
is  the  most  important  factor  in  the  efficiency  of  any  stu- 
dent, his  native  ability  or  his  college  training.  There 
is  a  feeling  that  the  broader  view  with  which  college  men 
are  able  to  attack  a  new  problem  enables  them  to  enter 
into  a  closer  study  of  a  business  with  enthusiasm  and 
with  a  greater  probability  of  mastering  it.  Native  abil- 
ity and  real  shop  experience  without  theoretical  and 
technical  training  are  seriously  handicapped,  while  theo- 
retical training  without  native  ability  is  useless,  but 
there  is  no  way  of  determining  the  constant  in  the  equa- 
tion between  native  ability  and  technical  training. 

The  fact  that  there  is  a  great  shortage  in  the  supply 
of  candidates  possessing  the  happy  combination  of  both 
these  assets  makes  it  necessary  sometimes  to  fill  vacancies 
with  a  less  desirable  class  of  students. 

The  experiences  of  several  educational  directors  have 
amply  shown  that  it  is  not  always  safe  to  depend  upon 
the  recommendations  of  college  authorities  in  making  ap- 
pointments. While  no  one  would  be  inclined  to  question 
the  sincerity  of  college  executives  in  making  recommen- 
dations, the  fact  that  they  feel  under  some  obligations 
to  aid  their  graduates  to  secure  good  places,  cannot  fail 
to  prejudice  them  to  a  greater  or  less  degree. 

Many  of  the  directors  of  larger  schools  make  annual 
pilgrimages  to  the  various  technical  schools  for  the  pur- 
pose of  getting  into  personal  touch  with  available  men 
who  are  about  to  graduate. 

Teachers. 

What  has  been  said  about  the  selection  of  educational 
directors  and  students  applies  with  equal  force  to  the 


34  Study  op  Coepoeation  Schools 

selection  of  teachers.    Instructors  should  have  all  the 
good  qualities  of  both  and  some  things  besides.* 

Many  of  the  instructors  who  have  been  observed  seem 
to  have  a  distinctive  personality  to  such  a  degree  that 
it  must  have  been  made  the  basis  of  their  selection.  Many 
of  them  have  been  highly  successful  public  school  teach- 
ers where  their  success  seems  to  have  been  due  to  their 
ability  to  *warm  up'  to  the  boys. 

Methods  op  Instruction 

Some  successful  corporation  school  instructors  do  not 
quibble  over  the  difference  between  teaching,  training, 
instruction  and  education,  nor  do  they  waste  time  in 
evaluating  the  various  aims  of  education,  such  as  the 
cultural  aim,  the  social  aim  or  the  conventional  aim. 
Their  emphasis  is  upon  the  practical  aim, — upon  knowl- 
edge, and  not  only  knowledge  of  facts  but  upon  knowl- 
edge of  how  to  do. 

Whether  this  apparent  apathy  toward  pedagogical 
and  psychological  refinements  is  an  unmixed  good,  is  a 
question.  The  apparently  better  results  obtained  by 
some  corporation  schools  are  due,  in  part  at  least,  to  this 
emphasis  upon  knowledge  of  facts  and  of  processes,  but 
better  results  might  be  obtained  by  a  greater  atten- 
tion to  questions  of  modern  educational  usage.  This  is 
not  a  suggestion  that  an  attempt  be  made  to  apply  such 
usages  with  a  blind  attempt  at  uniformity.  Uniformity 
in  practice  in  any  system  is  a  mark,  either  of  perfection 
attained  or  of  satisfaction  with  a  lack  of  perfection. 


*A  number  of  valuable  inTestigations  have  been  made  during  the 
past  few  years  on  the  "qualities  of  merit  in  teachers,"  some  of  which 
are   the   following: 

A  Measuring  Rod  for  Teaching  Efficiency,  J.  H.  Clement.  Kansas 
School  Magazine,  Vol.  2,   March,   1913. 

Qualities   of    Merit   in    Teachers,    Geo.   D.    Strayer  and   Wm.   C. 
Ruediger,  Journal  Educ.   Psych.,   1910,  pp.   272-279. 

Qualities  of  Merit  in  Secondary  Teachers,  A.  C.  Boyce,  Journal 
Educ.  Psych.,    1912,   pp.   144-168. 


Trade  and  Corporation  Schools  35 

Where  uniformity  is  supreme,  progress  is  always  lack- 
ing. If  these  dogmatic  statements  and  their  implied 
opposites  are  true,  there  are  surely  many  signs  of  prog- 
ress in  the  multiplicity  of  educational  methods  in  use 
in  the  various  schools. 

Without  doubt,  much  of  this  variety  is  due  to  the 
fact  that  many  of  the  schools  are  still  in  the  experi- 
mental stage,  and  the  time  has  not  yet  been  sufficient  to 
determine  which  is  the  best  method,  or  whether  there 
is  any  best  method.  The  many  kinds  of  business  repre- 
sented in  the  different  schools  naturally  require  different 
methods. 

Special  Methods. 

In  our  discussion  of  methods,  we  must  not  lose  sight 
of  the  fact  that  the  best  methods  fail  with  poor  teachers 
and  a  good  teacher  will  secure  good  results  by  any 
method.  The  teacher  is  the  chief  factor  in  any  educa- 
tional process,  and  text-books  and  methods  are  of  sec- 
ondary importance. 

Practically  every  commonly  used  method  of  teaching 
has  been  observed,  including  the  study  and  recitation 
method,  supervised  study,  the  library,  the  laboratory, 
the  project,  correspondence,  lectures,  and  inspection 
trips. 

Some  of  these  methods  need  no  discussion  here ;  others 
involve,  in  the  corporation  school,  situations  so  unique 
that  they  demand  more  than  passing  treatment. 

Laboratory  Method. 

A  much  broader  meaning  of  the  laboratory  method 
has  gradually  come  into  use  during  the  last  decade.  Now 
we  hear  of  the  laboratory  method  of  teaching  history, 
commerce,  Latin,  and  mathematics,  as  well  as  sciences. 


36  Study  of  Corporation  Schools 

This  wider  use  of  the  term  grows  naturally  out  of  the 
etymology  of  the  world,  i.e.,  a  place  for  work,  and  any 
method  of  study  in  which  manual  activity  is  the  dom- 
inant or  even  an  important  factor,  may  be  called  the 
laboratory  method.  The  teaching  of  business  by  the 
''actual  business "  plan,  or  by  actual  participation  in  real 
commercial  activities,  employs  the  laboratory  method.  It 
is  the  method  in  vogue  in  manual  training  and  domestic 
arts  work  in  public  and  private  schools,  and  it  is  consid- 
ered the  only  adequate  means  of  mastering  the  technical 
processes  of  engineering.     It  is  the  shop  method. 

The  value  of  this  method  is  attested  by  long  and  con- 
tinuous use.  ''Learning  by  Doing"  is  the  slogan  of  the 
laboratory  method  and  the  applicability  of  it  is  increased 
by  the  fact  that  many  cannot  learn  efficiently  by  any 
other  method.  This  method  has  some  decided  advan- 
tages over  the  study  and  recitation  method.  Among 
these  are  the  fact  that  what  one  actually  puts  into  action 
or  form  is  much  more  thoroughly  ingrained  into  the 
brain  fibre  than  what  is  simply  read  about,  thus  it  con- 
tributes not  only  to  manual  dexterity  but  to  mental  de- 
velopment as  well. 

Much  of  the  laboratory  and  shop  work,  performs  a 
double  function:  it  serves  an  educational  end  in  devel- 
oping a  mastery  of  processes,  and  a  financial  end  as 
well,  since  much  of  it  is  real  productive  commercial 
work.  There  are  certain  drawbacks  to  the  laboratory 
methods  which  are  serious  handicap — 

(a)  This  method  is  much  more  expensive,  owing  to 
the  costly  equipment,  and  to  the  materials  used  up  or 
wasted  by  beginning  students; 

(b)  Good  shop,  or  laboratory  teachers  are  much 
more  difficult  to  secure  than  good  recitation  teachers,  and 
they  command  relatively  higher  salaries; 

(c)  It  is  difficult  to  keep  the  work  properly  organ- 
ized, for  each  student  necessarily  does  individual  work, 


Trade  and  Corporation  Schools  37 

and  no  two  students  will  attain  the  same  stage  of  ad- 
vancement at  the  same  time.  This  results  in  a  prac- 
tical difficulty  in  relating  the  accompanying  theoretical 
study  to  the  practical  work. 

Much  of  the  laboratory  work  as  conducted  in  cor- 
poration schools  is  carried  on  in  the  regular  shops,  where 
the  students  are  assigned  to  tasks  either  for  a  specific 
length  of  time  or  until  a  satisfactory  degree  of  skill  is 
attained.  The  latter  of  these  methods  is  doubtless  the 
better  pedagogical  practice,  but  the  necessity  of  system 
makes  it  more  convenient  in  many  cases  to  adhere  to 
a  time  schedule  in  order  to  keep  all  the  students  and  all 
the  machines  busy. 

A  combination  of  the  study  and  the  laboratory 
methods  is  doubtless  productive  of  the  best  results.  It 
properly  correlates  the  practical  with  the  theoretical, 
the  actual  with  the  ideal.  Each  one  reinforces  the  other. 
As  to  the  relative  emphasis,  or  the  relative  amount  of 
time  to  be  given  to  each  kind  of  work,  it  is  difficult  to 
lay  down  a  rule  applicable  to  any  considerable  number 
of  schools. 

The  part  time  cooperative  schools  in  which  students 
work  at  their  regular  tasks  a  part  of  each  day  and  attend 
a  cooperating  school  the  remainder  of  the  day,  present 
a  very  satisfactory  combination  of  study  and  laboratory 
methods.  Some  cooperative  plans  provide  for  the  pair- 
ing of  the  students  so  that  each  one  works  alternate  weeks 
in  the  shop  while  his  alternate  is  in  school.  In  companies 
where  this  plan  is  followed  school  administrators  are 
usually  enthusiastic  in  their  commendation  of  it. 

Project  MetJiod. 

The  project  method  is  simply  a  special  phase  of  lab- 
oratory work.  The  term  ''The  Project  Method"  is  of 
comparatively  recent  origin.     It  contains,  however,  the 


38  Study  op  Corporation  Schools 

essence  of  the  best  pedagogical  practice,  and  as  such,  is 
making  its  way  rapidly  in  various  kinds  of  schools.  It 
is  almost  the  direct  antithesis  of  division  of  labor  or 
piece-work. 

The  factory  method  of  piece-work  is  deadening  to 
interest  or  development  where  the  monotonous  repetition 
of  simple  movements  in  making  parts  of  a  complete 
product  is  carried  on  without  any  interest  in  or  knowl- 
edge about  the  other  parts  of  the  completed  article. 

This  condition  is  the  natural  result  of  machine  work 
and  the  factory  system,  and  it  is  probably  impossible 
to  return  to  the  time  when  there  were  shoemakers  in- 
stead of  cutters,  vampers,  turners,  liners,  and  inspectors 
as  we  have  them  today.  There  are,  however,  many  op- 
portunities even  in  this  day  of  specializing,  for  students 
to  work  at  entire  projects  including  all  the  various  steps 
in  the  process  from  the  beginning  to  the  completed 
product,  and  where  it  is  feasible,  the  project  method  is 
to  be  recommended.  It  is  quite  essential  for  those  stu- 
dents who  are  to  become  shop  foremen,  or  foremen  of 
installation  gangs,  to  become  masters  of  entire  processes" 
including  the  details  of  every  step.  Thus  while  the 
project  method  may  not  be  applicable  to  the  exclusion 
of  other  methods,  it  should  have  a  place  wherever  possi- 
ble in  the  organization  of  shop  and  laboratory  courses. 
The  value  of  the  Project  Method  as  a  motive  to  work  is 
discussed  at  length  in  Chapter  VI. 

Inspection  Trips. 

For  the  purpose  of  giving  the  students  a  broad  gen- 
eral view  of  the  business  of  any  concern,  there  is  no  ade- 
quate substitute  for  the  observation  or  inspection  trip. 

So  important  is  this  method  considered  by  some  com- 
panies that  they  organize  these  study  tours  with  fully 
as  much  care  as  the  study  or  the  laboratory  courses.     One 


Trade  and  Corporation  Schools  39 

very  large  concern,  first  details  students  to  act  as  mes- 
sengers about  the  plant  and  to  the  various  substations 
and  agencies  in  different  parts  of  the  city,  for  no  other 
purpose  than  to  familiarize  the  students  with  the  geogra- 
phy of  the  plant.  Later,  the  students  are  detailed  as 
general  assistants  in  different  substations  in  order  that 
they  may  become  thoroughly  familiar  with  the  general 
policies  and  activities  of  the  company. 

In  another  large  manufacturing  plant,  the  students — 
college  graduates — are  required  to  report  to  different 
department  heads  on  successive  days  and  are  given  de- 
tailed instructions  as  to  what  they  are  to  observe  in  each 
department.  This  routine,  sometimes  lasting  for  several 
weeks,  is  continued  until  the  rounds  of  all  the  different 
departments  are  made. 

In  other  schools  instead  of  bunching  all  the  inspec- 
tion trips  together,  they  are  spread  throughout  the  year, 
which  plan  is  doubtless  in  keeping  with  sound  pedagogy. 

The  entire  program  of  excursions  and  observation 
trips  is  in  accord  with  the  best  school  practice,  since  it 
adds  novelty  to  the  daily  routine  and  gives  students  a 
broader  foundation  upon  which  to  build  a  thorough 
knowledge  of  the  business. 

In  order  to  realize  the  fullest  possible  value  from  an 
inspection  trip  it  must  be  carefully  planned  in  advance. 
This  plan  should  include  the  details  of :  where  to  go,  what 
to  see,  what  questions  to  ask,  and  what  items  to  discuss. 
The  danger  of  distractions  must  be  foreseen  and  guarded 
against.  Just  as  it  is  possible  to  go  through  the  forest 
and  not  ''see''  a  tree,  so  it  is  possible  to  visit  a  power 
plant  and  not  see  any  of  the  technically  essential  parts 
of  the  plant. 


40  Study  of  Corporation  Schools 


Present  Typical  Schools 


From  this  general  survey  of  the  organization  of  the 
methods  of  instruction  and  of  the  administrative  machin- 
ery of  the  corporation  school,  we  turn  to  the  discussion 
of  its  present  status,  its  geographical  distribution,  its 
aims  and  purposes,  and  the  various  types  of  schools  as 
they  exist  today. 

In  Chapter  II,  it  was  pointed  out  that  the  gild  school 
was  the  forerunner  and  progenitor  of  the  modern  cor- 
poration school.  The  most  notable,  because  the  most 
successful  examples  of  craft  gild  schools  for  apprentices, 
are  to  be  found  in  Germany. 


Trade  and  Corporation  Schools  41 

' '  In  Germany  as  in  no  other  country,  the  people  have 
been  unwilling  to  break  with  the  past, ' '  and  a  conscious 
effort  has  been  made  to  perpetuate  by  legal  enactments, 
the  handicraftsman  and  the  small  tradesman,  and  espe- 
cially the  institution  of  apprenticeship.  The  effect  of  this 
legislation  is  shown  in  the  statement  that  ''30  per  cent 
of  German  industry  is  still  carried  on  under  the  handi- 
craft system. '  '^ 

These  ends  have  been  accomplished  by  enacting  two 
quite  distinct  sets  of  laws,  one  affecting  the  small  trades- 
man and  the  gilds  and  the  other  those  phases  of  industry 
affected  by  the  factory  system.^  The  advantages  of  the 
apprenticeship  system  have  been  maintained  by  legally 
restoring  the  powers  and  privileges  of  the  gilds.  ' '  Nine- 
tenths  of  the  present  trade  schools  {FacJiscliulen)  are  the 
work  of  the  gild  schools,  the  origin  of  many  of  which  is 
in  the  Middle  Ages."^  ''Of  the  251  industrial  schools 
participating  in  an  educational  exposition  in  Dresden, 
in  1898,  88  were  founded  by  societies,  48  by  the  state,  and 
47  by  private  individuals. '  '^  While  it  has  been  the  policy 
of  most  of  the  German  states  to  assume  the  control  and 
assist  in  the  support  of  these  schools, "^  many  of  them  still 
retain,  in  a  large  measure,  their  original  character. 

Gild  schools  in  France  in  the  Middle  Ages  were  nu- 
merous, and  their  industrial  importance  was  great,  but 
the  arrogance  of  the  gilds  brought  a  reaction  upon  them- 
selves in  1776  which  greatly  limited  their  powers,  and  the 
drastic  laws  of  1791  definitely  abolished  the  gilds. 

It  was  left  for  private  enterprise  to  initiate  the  move- 
ment to  rehabilitate  French  industrial  training,  which 
had  been  so  ruthlessly  destroyed  by  the  revolution.  The 
Duke  de  la  Rochelle,  at  his  own  expense  established  a 

»Ref.  17,  and  Ref.  22,  p.  775. 

*Ref.  20,  pp.  7-8. 

»Ref.  16,  p.  905;  Ref.  18,  pp.  530,  536;  Ref.  22,  p.  775. 

•Ref.  16,  p.  872. 

»Ref.  16,  p.  874;  Ref.  22,  p.  775. 


42  Study  op  Corporation  Schools 

school ' '  with  a  department  for  industrial  training,  which 
was  the  first  institution  for  special  trade  instruction  in 
France. '  '^  It  was  declared  a  national  school  by  the  First 
Republic  in  1799.  Upon  this  humble  foundation,  has 
been  developed  a  thorough  system  of  state  industrial  and 
technical  schools. 

In  Great  Britain,  the  movement  was  somewhat  later 
in  developing,  and  private  enterprise  is  credited  with  in- 
stituting the  movement  which  has  grown  in  recent  years 
into  a  real  interest  in  vocational  training.  This  move- 
ment was  initiated  about  1784,  by  David  Hale,  who  built 
at  his  own  cost,  a  boarding  house  and  school  for  five  hun- 
dred charity  children  from  the  New  Lanark  cotton 
mills.' '9 

The  modern  industrial  technical  school  and  technical 
school  movement  dates  from  1801,  in  which  year  Dr. 
George  Burbeck,  established  mechanics'  classes  at  An- 
derson's University,  at  Glasgow;  and  it  received  a  new 
impetus  in  the  founding  of  the  Mechanics'  and  Appren- 
tices' Library  in  1823.  ''The  first  building  erected  in 
England  with  accommodations  for  the  various  depart- 
ments of  scientific  work  for  the  dyer,  the  carpenter,  the 
mason,  and  the  machine  maker,  was  built  by  private 
subscription  for  the  Manchester  Mechanics '  Institute,  in 
1824.  "10 

The  development  of  trade  apprenticeship  schools  in 
the  United  States  may  be  said  to  date  from  the  activity 
of  the  Worcester  (Massachusetts)  County  Mechanics' 
Association,  which  was  formed  in  1841  for  the  purpose 
of  ''perfecting  the  mechanics'  art",  and  which  in  1866 
opened  a  school  for  apprentices  with  140  members  the 
first  year.  11    The  New  York  Trade  School,  founded^^  by 

•Ref.  16,  p.  704;  Ref.  21,  p.  98 

•Ref.  18,  p.  6. 

»R«f.  18,  p.  25. 

«Ref.  19,  p.  47. 

«Ref.  16,  pp.  20-22  and  987. 


Trade  and  Corporation  Schools  43 

Col.  Richard  T.  Auchmuty,  in  1881  was  also  '*a  pioneer 
venture. ' ' 

As  to  public  industrial  education,  one  authority 
states/ 3  that  up  to  1870,  no  school  of  an  industrial  char- 
acter existed  except  the  higher  institutions  established  as 
the  result  of  the  first  Morrill  Act,  passed  in  1862. 

Though  private  industrial  and  technical  schools,  and 
schools  fostered  by  trade  unions,  increased  in  number i^ 
these  schools  were  quite  unequal  to  the  task  of  developing 
competent  workers,  fast  enough  to  meet  the  growing  de- 
mands of  industry.  Public  sentiment,  too,  was  slow  in 
developing  to  a  point  where  industrial  and  trade  training 
seemed  to  be  a  public  responsibility.  Business  concerns 
were  therefore  forced  to  undertake  the  training  of  their 
own  apprentices. 

This  condition  existed  both  in  the  United  States  and 
in  Great  Britain,  and  to  a  less  extent  in  Germany,  because 
the  German  State  early  recognized  the  necessity  for  state 
support  of  industrial  and  apprenticeship  schools.^^ 

So  far  as  the  writer  has  been  able  to  ascertain,  the  first 
apprenticeship  school  maintained  by  a  business  corpora- 
tion was  established  by  the  Chaix  Printing  Company  of 
Paris,  in  1863.^^  The  oldest  American  corporation  school 
is  that  founded  by  the  R.  Hoe  Printing  Press  Company 
of  New  York  in  1875. ^^  Notwithstanding  these  few 
pioneer  corporation  schools,  the  movement  did  not  attain 
any  considerable  impetus  until  about  1905, ^^  since  which 
time  the  growth  in  the  number  of  such  schools  has  been 
quite  rapid. 

A  corporation  school  as  defined  for  this  study  is  a 
school  maintained  by  a  business  concern,  quite  indepen- 

»Ref.  16,  p.  20. 

"Ref.  16,   Chap.  I. 

»Ref.  23;  Ref.  21,  pp.  153-4;  Ref.  21,  p.  9. 

"Ref.  16,  p.  857. 

"Ref.  16,  p.  23;  pp.  207-8. 

"Ref.  16,  p.  145  et  seq. 


44  Study  of  Corporation  Schools 

dently  of  outside  control,  for  the  purpose  of  fitting  its 
new  employees  for  efficient  service,  or  for  the  further 
training  of  its  older  employees  to  fit  them  for  positions 
of  greater  responsibility,  as  foremen,  executives,  or  tech- 
nical experts. 

This  definition  is  amplified  by  the  aims  set  forth  by 
the  National  Association  of  Corporation  Schools.  This 
Association^^  is  composed  of  over  one  hundred  business 
concerns  which  maintain  apprenticeship  schools,  and  in 
addition  to  business  concerns,  a  large  number  of  indi- 
vidual members  who  are  in  sympathy  with  the  move- 
ment. 

The  aims^^  of  this  association  as  set  forth  in  its  con- 
stitution are :  ' '  first,  to  develop  the  individual  employee 
to  his  highest  efficiency ;  second,  to  increase  the  efficiency 
of  industry ;  and  third,  to  influence  courses  in  established 
educational  institutions  more  favorably  toward  indus- 
try. ' '  The  first  two  of  these  aims  dominate,  to  a  marked 
degree,  all  the  corporation  schools  visited  by  the  writer, 
and  the  literature  of  other  schools  not  visited  indicates 
that  these  aims  are  practically  universal. 

It  is  pertinent  here  to  describe  briefly  the  National 
Association  of  Corporation  Schools  whose  aims  are  set 
forth  above ;  for  while  this  association  does  not  include, 
by  any  means,  all  the  business  concerns  which  conduct 
apprenticeship  schools,  its  aims  and  the  means  by  which 
it  undertakes  to  accomplish  them  are  doubtless  applica- 
ble to  most  corporation  schools.  The  National  Associa- 
tion of  Corporation  Schools  was  organized  at  New  York 
University,  January  24th,  1913,2i  where  representatives 
from  forty-eight  concerns  maintaining  such  schools  had 
assembled  in  response  to  a  general  invitation  issued  by 
the  New  York  Edison  Company,  and  the  National  Cash 
Register  Company,  of  Dayton,  Ohio.     The  constitution 

"Ref.  27,  pp.  27-84. 

»Ref.  27,  p.  9. 

»Ref.  81,  pp.  50-54,  Ref.  82. 


Trade  and  Corporation  Schools  45 

of  this  Association  proposes  the  means  by  which  the  aims 
stated  above  may  be  realized.  Section  1^2  says,  ''The 
object  of  the  Association  is  to  aid  corporations  in  the  ed- 
ucation of  their  employees  by  providing  a  forum  for  the 
interchange  of  ideas,  and  by  collecting  and  making  avail- 
able, data  as  to  successful  and  unsuccessful  plans  in  edu- 
cating employees. ' ' 

Membership  in  the  Association  is  of  three  classes : 
Class  A.  composed  of  concerns  which  maintain  corpora- 
tion schools;  Class  B.  composed  of  officials  of  schools 
maintained  by  Class  A.  members ;  and  Class  C.  composed 
of  individuals  who  are  in  sympathy  with  the  objects  of 
the  association.23 

No  sooner  had  the  Association  fairly  got  to  work,  than 
the  great  diversity  of  educational  interests  which  are  en- 
gaging business  concerns  became  apparent.  These  vari- 
ous types  of  educational  efforts  are  clearly  shown  by  the 
enumeration  of  the  several  committees^*  to  which  the 
Association  has  assigned  specific  phases  of  corporation 
school  work.  This  work  is  assigned  to  the  following 
committees : 

1.  Special  training  schools, 

2.  Advertising,  selling,  and  distribution  schools, 

3.  Retail  salesmanship  schools, 

4.  Office  work  schools. 

5.  Unskilled  labor, 

6.  Trade  apprenticeship  schools, 

7.  Public  education, 

8.  Employment  plans, 

9.  Safety  and  health, 

10.  Allied  institutions, 

11.  Vocational  guidance, 

12.  Administration  and  supervision. 


"Ref.  31,  p.  32. 
23Ref.  31,  p.  32. 
»*Ref.  27,  pp.  23-25. 


46  Study  op  Corporation  Schools 

Each  of  the  first  six  committees  represents  a  distinct 
type  of  school  whose  characteristics  are  indicated  by  the 
name  of  the  committee.  The  other  committees,  except  the 
twelfth,  whose  function  is  obvious,  represent  the  means 
by  which  the  Association  undertakes  to  realize  its  second 
and  third  aims ;  they  embody  the  broader  outlook  of  cor- 
poration school  administrators  upon  the  great  problem  of 
"increasing  industrial  efficiency"  through  social  uplift, 
and  through  a  more  general  solution  of  the  problem  of 
vocational  training  than  is  furnished  by  the  corporation 
school. 

We  now  take  up  the  discussion  of  the  six  types  of  cor- 
poration schools,  and  reserve  for  the  latter  part  of  this 
chapter  the  discussion  of  the  means  of  realizing  the  third 
aim  of  the  Association.  The  second  aim  and  its  accom- 
plishment, we  discuss  only  incidentally. 

1.  Special  Training  Schools 

The  "special  training  school' '  is  a  term  applied  to 
the  training  departments  which  business  concerns  main- 
tain for  college  graduates  and  other  technical  men,  "It 
is  an  organized  effort  to  produce  by  training,  all-round 
men  whereas  the  present  tendency  in  organization  is  to 
train  specialists.  Some  key-note  words  will  keep  the 
purposes  of  special  training  schools  before  us. 

"Breadth,  round  out  experience. 

"Make  company  men  before  you  make  department 
men. 

' '  Know  the  system  as  a  whole. 

* '  Make  men  more  versatile. 

*  *  Get  the  theory  plus  the  practice. 

' '  Broaden  their  vision. '  * 

The  above  quotations^®  present  an  approach  to  the 
Tdeal  purpose  of  the  special  training  schools,  an  approach 
which  is  seldom  even  approximated  in  practice. 

"Ref.  19.  p.  260. 


Trade  and  Corporation  Schools  47 

The  students  who  are  enrolled  in  these  schools  usually 
enter  directly  from  college  and  in  the  majority  of  cases 
tEey  have  had  little  or  ho  practical  business,  or  execu- 
tive2<^  work;  and  the  purpose  in  such  schools  is  to  make 
as  quickly  and  as  economically  as  possible  that  vital  con- 
tact between  the  theoretical  work  of  the  technical  school 
and  the  practical  routine  of  the  manufacturing  or  com- 
mercial institution. 

In  attempting  a  classification  of  the  special  training 
schools,  based  upon  printed  materials  secured  from  the 
various  companies  the  writer  encountered  a  difficult  task 
because  of  the  great  variety  of  schools  maintained.  This 
diversity  consists  not  only  in  the  specific  purposes  for 
which  the  schools  are  maintained  but  also  in  the  organi- 
zation and  the  methods  employed  to  accomplish  those 
purposes.2^ 

An  examination  of  the  literature  of  special  training 
schools  shows  three  dominant  purposes  in  these  schools : 
first,  to  train  new  employees  for  specific  work ;  second,  to 
teach  a  business  as  a  whole ;  and  third,  to  help  employees 
to  fit  themselves  for  advancement.  The  first  of  these  pur- 
poses provides  in  reality  a  species  of  apprenticeship, 
though  the  aim  is  a  narrow  specific  ability  instead  of  the 
mastery  of  an  entire  field  or  trade.  The  second  purpose 
has  developed  because  individual  corporations  have  come 
to  realize  that  an  employee  can  be  brought  to  his  highest 
efficiency  only  by  giving  him  a  broad  and  intelligent  view 
of  the  entire  business  as  well  as  a  mastery  of  the  specific 
duties  of  his  position.  The  third  purpose  applies  to  those 
employees  who  have  shown  themselves  capable  and 
worthy  of  promotion. 

The  plans  of  organization  by  which  these  purposes 
are  attained  are  classified  for  the  purposes  of  this  study 
into  five  types :  A,  B,  C,  D,  and  E. 

2«Ref,  19,  p.  250  et  seq. 
2TRef.   27,  pp.  81-83. 


48  Study  of  Corporation  Schools 

Type  A  schools  are  distinguished  by  the  fact  that  the 
student-employee  spends  all  of  his  time  in  school  and 
does  no  productive  work.  This  type  of  school  is  designed 
to  get  definite  results  in  the  minimum  of  time  by  inten- 
sive study.  These  courses  are  open  usually  only  to  tech- 
nical graduates  and  to  exceptionally  efficient  old  em- 
ployees. 

Type  B  schools  differ  from  those  of  Type  A  not  in  the 
purpose  but  in  the  method.  Under  this  plan,  students 
divide  their  time  between  study  and  productive  work, 
the  proportion  varying  with  different  companies. 

There  may  be  one  serious  handicap  for  this  latter 
type  of  school.  This  is  due  to  the  attitude  toward  these 
student  workers  of  some  foremen  and  department  heads 
under  whom  students  acquire  their  experience.  The  feel- 
ing on  the  part  of  these  foremen  that  the  student  gradu- 
ates are  being  trained  for  positions  better  than  those  they 
themselves  hold  or  hope  to  hold,  has  seemed  to  prejudice 
them  toward  the  special-training-course  men  to  such  an 
extent  as  seriously  to  handicap  the  system.  At  least  one 
large  concern  which  has  been  conducting  such  a  school 
for  several  years,  has  recently  decided  either  to  abandon 
the  plan  or  to  modify  it  in  some  manner  so  as  to  overcome 
the  difficulty.  The  author  feels  that  this  particular  dif- 
ficulty is  not  common  as  the  above  case  is  the  only  one 
which  has  been  called  to  his  attention  as  serious  enough 
to  endanger  the  success  of  the  plan. 

Type  C  schools  are  marked  by  the  following  charac- 
teristics : 

1.  The  student's  time  is  made  as  nearly  entirely  pro- 

ductive as  possible,  no  time  being  given  by  the 
company  for  related  instruction ; 

2.  Students  are  assigned  to  work  in  various  depart- 
^  ment^  of  the  plant  where  they  work  under  the 
\  same  conditions  as  other  employees ; 


Trade  and  Corporation  Schools  49 

3.  There  is  little  or  no  supervision  aside  from  that 

given    by    department    superintendents    and 
foremen ; 

4.  Students  are  assigned  to  all  or  at  least  to  several 

departments  in  turn,  the  better  to  learn  the 
whole  business  of  the  firm. 

The  manner  of  selecting  the  students  for  this  type  of 
school  is  the  same  as  in  Types  A  and  B. 

Type  D  includes  the  company  continuation  school. 
The  continuation  school  is  a  German  product,  but  it  is 
gradually  making  its  way  into  the  educational  system  of 
the  United  States.  The  broad  utilitarian  aim  which  per- 
vades the  continuation  school  is  expressed  in  the  phrase 
''Learn  vv^hile  earning  and  earn  while  learning." 

The  purposes  of  the  company  continuation  school  are : 
first,  to  aid  employees  to  equip  themselves  for  advance- 
m^ent  by  specific  training  for  more  technical  work ;  second, 
to  enable  employees  to  continue  their  general  education ; 
third,  to  increase  the  efficiency  of  employees  in  their 
present  positions;  and  fourth,  to  discover  for  each  em- 
ployee the  particular  kind  of  work  which  he  can  do  most 
efficiently^ 

This  type  of  school  is  marked  by  a  somewhat  broader 
educational  outlook  than  is  present  in  some  of  the  other 
types,  as  is  shown  by  the  provision  that  a  considerable 
part  of  the  student's  time  be  given  to  general  education 
instead  of  confining  him  to  such  work  as  promises  greater 
immediate  efficiency  in  a  particular  position. 

In  contrast  with  the  rigid  methods  of  selecting  stu- 
dents in  the  first  three  types  of  schools,  here  we  find  no 
restrictions  whatever.  Any  employee  who  desires  to  do 
so  may  enroll  as  a  continuation  student  and  attendance 
is  usually  voluntary,  though  it  is  required  in  some  schools 
for  certain  classes  of  students. 

The  number  of  continuation  schools  is  rapidly  increas- 
ing, and  the  writer  believes  that  this  type  of  school  is 


so 


Study  op  Corporation  Schools 


destined  to  play  an  increasingly  important  part  in  the 
solution  of  the  problem  of  industrial  training  and  effi- 
ciency. 

Table  II  compiled  by  the  writer  in  1916  shows  the 
names  of  the  companies  which  are  maintaining  continua- 
tion schools,  and  the  characteristics  of  their  work. 

Type  E  is  the  cooperative  school.  This  type  is  sim- 
ilar to  Type  B,  except  that  the  study  part  of  the  school 
is  conducted  under  and  administered  by  public  or  private 
school  authorities.  In  case  of  cooperation  with  public 
schools  the  expense  of  the  '  *  educational ' '  work  is  usually 
paid  out  of  public  funds,  while  the  company  pays  the 
employee  for  the  time  he  spends  on  productive  work.  In 
some  cases  the  company  pays  the  student  for  the  time 
spent  in  school. 

TABLE  II— TYPE  D.  COMPANY  CONTINUATION  SCHOOLS 

Companiea Employees Snbjects* Time 

American  Bridge.  .  .  .         any  (g)    (s)  bridge  evening 

building  &  (c) 

Bing  &  Bing any  (g)   mechanics  evening 

Chicago    Telephone.  .        any  (s)   plant  main- 

Commonwealth   Edi-  tenance  (c) 

son any  (g)    (s)  day 

Commonwealth   Steel.        any  under  22  (g)  day 

Curtis    Publishing.  .  .        any  (g)   office  and 

commercial 

work  evening 
Fore  River  Ship- 
building          any                            (g)   English  evening 

Genera]  Electric  .    .  .        office  (s    accounting  evening 

B.  F.  Goodrich  ....        any  (g)   reading 

course 
Goodyear  Tire  & 

Rubber foremen  A  day  & 

inspectors  evening 
International  Har- 
vester          boys  16-20               (g)   drafting, 

shop  practice  evening 

Illinois  Steel any  (g) 

Kops  Bros any  (g)  day 

Metropolitan  Life 

Insurance any  (s)    life  insurance         (o) 

typists  (g)   stenography  evening 

any  (s)   actuarial 

work  evening 


Trade  and  Corporation  Schools 


51 


Mountain  States  Tele- 


phone  &  Telegraph 

any 

(g)   electricity 
&  telephone 

work 

(c) 

Newport    News    Ship- 

building &  Dry 

Dock 

any 

(g)   mechanical 

drawing 

evening- 

New  York  Edison.  .  . 

any 

(g)    (s)  technical 

accounting 

day  & 

evening 

Norton  &  Norton 

Grinding 

machinists 

(s) 

evening 

Public  Service  Cor- 

poration of  New 

Jersey  

commercial 

(g) 

day  & 

evening 

Prudential   Insurance 

any 

(g) 

day 

Cumberland  Tele- 

phone &  Telegraph 

any 

(s)   telephone 

practice 

evening 

Southern  Bell  Tele- 

phone &  Telegraph 

(s)    accounting 

day 

Simons   Manufactur- 

ing   

any 

(g) 

day 

Standard  Oil  of  New 

York 

any 

(s) 

Swift  &  Company.  .  . 

office  boys 

(g) 

day 

Tidewater  Oil 

clerks 

(s)    accounting 

Sat.  P.  M. 

Westfnghouse    Air 

Brake  

office  boys 

(g) 

day 

Western  Electric  .   .  . 

any 

(s) 

evening 

Winchester  Arms  .  .  . 

any 

(g)   English,   me- 
chanical draw- 

ing 

evening 

Yale  &  Towne  Man- 

(g)   efficiency, 

ufacturing  

any 

mechanical 

drawing 

evening 

*(g)    general  subjects,    (s)    special  subjects,    (c)    correspondence. 

In  this  type  of  school  we  find  at  work  the  principle 
of  cooperation.  It  represents  a  recognition  on  the  part 
of  business  concerns,  of  the  applicability  to  their  educa- 
tional work,  of  that  principle  which  in  recent  years  has 
resulted  in  so  many  changes  in  the  conduct  of  corporate 
business. 

There  are  two  distinct  plans  of  cooperation:  co- 
operation between  several  business  concerns  in  the  same 
or  related  fields,  and  cooperation  between  business  con- 
cerns and  public  or  private  schools.  Table  III,  based 
upon  data  collected  in  1916,  shows  typical  schools  of 
Tj^pe  E. 


52 


Study  of  Corporation  Schools 


TABLE  III.— COOPERATIVE   SPECIAL  TRAINING   SCHOOLS 


Schools 


Cooperating  Companies 


Company  Schools. 

Central   Stations  Institute 


Commonwealth  Edison  Company 
Federal  Sign  Company  (Electric) 
Illinois  Northern  Utilities  Company 
(Owning    21    subsidiary   compan- 
ies) 
Middle   West   Utilities   Company 
(Comprising  140  subsidiary  com- 
panies) 
Public   Service  Company  of   North- 
ern 111.    (comprising  five  compan- 
ies) 


National  Electric  Light  Assn. 
(Correspondence  courses) 


Electric  light  companies  in  all  parts 
of  the  United  States 


Denver  Gas  and  Electric  Light  Com- 
pany, Gas  &  Electric  School 
(Correspondence  courses) 


Thirty-nine   companies   in    all   parts 

of  the  United  States 


Public   Schools. 

University  of  Cincinnati 


University  of  Akron 
University  of   Pittsburgh 
Georgia  Institute  of  Technology 
Dayton  High  School 
Cass  Technical  High  School 


Departments  of  commerce  in  sixteen 
large  universities 


Cincinnati  Milling  Company 

National  Cash  Register  Company 

Western  Electric  Company  and 
"Nearly    100    other    firms,    repre- 
senting   the    principal    phases    of 
construction,      manufacture     and 
transportation."^ 

Thirty-four  cooperating  firms. 

Forty-eight  cooperating  firms. 

Seven  cooperating  firms. 

National  Cash  Register  Company. 

Thirty-one  cooperating  firms, 
(partly  trade  apprenticeship 
courses) 

National   City   Bank.    New  York. 


Schools  Avhose  aim  is  to  discover  and  develop  selling 
ability  are  divided  into  two  groups :  one  having  reference 
to  wholTisaling,  selling  to  the  trade,  and  the  selling  of 
proprietary  or  patented  goods  either  to  individual  cus- 
tomers or  to  the  trade,  and  the  other  having  reference  to 
the  development  of  retail  salesmanship.  Each  of  these 
two  groups  is  the  subject  of  study  of  a  separate  commit- 
tee of  the  National  Association  of  Corporation  Schools, 
the  former  being  assigned  to  a  Committee  on  Advertising, 

"Ref.  48,  p.  16. 


Trade  and  Corporation  Schools  53 

Selling  and  Distribution,  and  the  latter  to  the  Committee 
on  Retail  Salesmanship. 

2.  Advertising,  Selling,  and  Distribution  Schools 

The  scope  of  the  work  carried  on  in  schools  of  this 
character  is  shown  in  the  following  outline  :^^ 

1.  Salesmanship 

a)  relation  to  other  phases  of  the  business, 

b)  salesman's  dignified  work, 

c)  opportunities  in  salesmanship, 

d)  importance  of  selling  knowledge  to  every  busi- 

ness man, 

e)  selling  as  a  stepping  stone  to  executive  posi- 

tions, 

f )  what  the  salesman  has  an  opportunity  to  learn, 

g)  the  salesmen  are  ''born  not  made"  fallacy  re- 

futed, 

h)  the  field  of  marketing, 

i)  divisions  of  selling, 

j)  definition  of  a  sale, 

k)  factors  of  a  sale, 

1)  the  selling  process, 

m)  the  training  of  salesmen.^o 

3.  Retail  Salesmanship  Schools 

The  field  of  retail  salesmanship  includes  approxi- 
mately one  million  people  in  the  United  States,  a  larger 
number  than  in  any  other  one  single  field  which  is 
touched  by  corporation  education  activity .^^  The  depart- 
ment stores  of  New  York  City  alone  employ  over  28,000 
sales-people.22  go  important  has  the  training  of  sales- 

»Ref.  27,  pp.  476  et  seq. 

••Bureau  of  Salesmanship  Research,  Carnegie  Institute  of  Technology, 
Pittsburgh,  Penn.     See  Ref.  27,  p.  364,  also  Printers'  Ink,  April  6th,  1916. 
"Thirteenth  U.  S.  Census  Report,  1910,  Vol.  IV,  p.  93. 


54  Study  of  Corporation  Schools 

people  become  that  there  have  been  formed  a  Department 
Store  Educational  Association's  in  New  York  City,  a 
Union  School  of  Salesmanship  in  Boston,  and  numerous 
other  agencies  have  taken  up  the  study  of  salesmanship 
and  the  training  of  sales-people. 

Few,  if  any,  of  the  department  stores  have  had  their 
training  work  organized  long  enough  to  have  any  avail- 
able literature  outlining  their  curricula.  Many  of  them, 
however,  are  pursuing  at  least  a  part  of  the  work  indi- 
cated in  the  following  outline  taken  from  the  bulletin  on 
the  New  York  Department  Store  Educational  Associa- 
tion: 

1.  Stock 

a)  classification  in  departments, 

b)  materials  and  qualities, 

c)  arrangement  and  care, 

d)  color,  form,  and  style, 

2.  Salesmanship 

a)  types  of  customers, 

b)  approaching  a  customer, 

c)  closing  the  sale, 

d)  demonstration  sales  for  discussion, 

3.  Commercial  ethics 

a)  relation  of  employees  to  the  store, 

b)  relation  of  employees  to  each  other, 

c)  relation  of  the  store  to  its  customers, 

4.  System 

a)  rapid  calculation, 

b)  business  arithmetic, 

c)  business  English. 

4.  Office  Work  Schools 
Office-work  schools  undertake  to  train  employees  in 
practically  all  of  the  mechanical  phases  of  office  practice, 
and  the  extent  of  the  work  covered  in  different  schools 


•>Mi88  BeuUh  Kennard,  Sec.  No.  49,  LaFayette  St.,  New  York  C'Hj- 


Trade  and  Corporation  Schools  55 

varies  from  instruction  in  the  simplest  forms  of  book- 
keeping to  a  thorough  training  in  accounting,  filing,  in- 
dexing, correspondence,  stenography,  typing,  multi- 
graphing,  dictaphone  operating,  and  general  office  effi- 
ciency. 

The  fact  that  instruction  in  office  work  varies  from  a 
minimum  of  practically  zero  to  a  complete  training  cover- 
ing a  year  or  more  has  made  it  practically  impossible  to 
classify  such  schools  or  to  secure  any  adequate  data  as 
to  their  number. 

5.  Schools  for  Unskilled  Labor 

The  fifth  phase  of  corporate  educational  activity  is 
directed  toward  the  unskilled  laborer.  This  may  take 
the  form  of  classes  in  common-school  subjects  or,  what  is 
perhaps  of  greater  importance,  the  teaching  of  English 
to  foreigners. 

It  has  been  impossible  to  secure  statistics  as  to  the 
number  of  firms  conducting  such  work,  or  as  to  the  num- 
ber of  adult  employees  who  are  enrolled  in  school  work, 
but  some  notion  of  the  importance  of  this  work  may  be 
gained  from  the  fact  that  one  firm,  the  American  Bridge 
Company  at  Ambridge,  Pennsylvania,  has  an  enrollment 
of  125  adult  foreigners  at  a  single  plant.^^  The  Ford 
Motor  Company  reports  2,700  foreigners  in  the  Ford 
English  SchooP*  and  other  companies^^  report  equally 
important  work  of  this  character.  What  company  offi- 
cials maintaining  these  schools  think  of  this  work  is  sum- 
marized in  Chapter  IV. 

6.  Trade  Apprentice  Schools 

The  purpose  of  the  trade  apprentice  school  is  to 
impart  to  each  apprentice  the  mastery  of  a  skilled  trade. 

"Ref.   27,  p.  748. 

•*Ref.  86. 

»Ref.  27,  p.  197,  pp.  746  et.  teq. 


\ 


56  Study  of  Corpoeation  Schools 

These  schools  touch  a  much  larger  number  of  employees 
than  any  other  type  of  corporation  school,  and  are  there- 
fore doubtless  the  most  important. 

Apprentices  are  accepted  usually  at  ages  sixteen  to 
twenty,  and  a  legal  indenture  of  apprenticeship  is  drawn 
up,  which  sets  forth  the  length  of  the  apprenticeship,  the 
wages  to  be  paid,  and  the  details  of  the  agreement.  The 
great  diversity  of  these  agreements  makes  it  difficult  to 
characterize  any  considerable  number  of  them.  The  in- 
denture used  by  the  Packard  Motor  Car  Company  speci- 
fies: 

a)  the  name  of  the  trade  to  be  taught ; 

b)  a  deposit  of  twenty-five  dollars  to  be  forfeited  to 

the  company  if  the  apprentice  fails  to  complete 
his  apprenticeship ; 

c)  the  conditions  upon  which  the  agreement  may  be 
legally  terminated ; 

d)  a  bonus  of  one  hundred  dollars  to  be  paid  by  the 
company  upon  the  satisfactory  completion  of 
the  apprenticeship ; 

e)  a  probationary  period  of  one  hundred  hours  at  the 
end  of  which,  the  applicant  is  either  dismissed 
or  formally  accepted  and  a  legal  indenture  ex- 
ecuted between  the  company  and  the  appren- 
tice *s  parents  or  guardian ; 

f)  a  three  years'  term  of  apprenticeship  of  2,700 
working  hours ; 

g)  the  rating  of  apprentices  by  foremen,  upon  a  per- 
centage basis,  those  receiving  a  high  rating  se- 
curing thereby  a  time  premium  which  may  be 
counted  as  vacation  or  to  reduce  the  term  of 
apprenticeship ; 

h)  a  wage  scale  of  sixteen  cents  per  hour  for  the  first 
six  months,  and  an  increase  of  two  cents  per 
hour  at  the  beginning  of  each  succeeding  six 
months ; 


Trade  and  Corporation  Schools  57 

i)  a  decrease  in  the  term  of  apprenticeship  at  the  op- 
tion of  the  company  in  case  the  apprentice  is  a 
graduate  of  the  Detroit  high  school. 

Many  companies  in  training  their  apprentices  and 
other  employees  not  regularly  apprenticed,  instead  of  un- 
dertaking to  give  them  the  academic  and  technical  part 
of  the  training,  enter  into  a  cooperative  agreement  with 
public  or  private  schools  to  give  this  training,  while  the 
practical  part  of  the  training  is  given  in  the  shop  under 
actual  shop  conditions.  The  importance  of  this  coopera- 
tive movement  and  its  bearing  upon  the  solution  of  the 
problem  of  vocational  education  is  discussed  in  Chap- 
ter X. 

The  reports  as  to  the  number  of  students  in  corpora- 
tion schools  do  not  give  definite  information  as  to  the 
classification  of  students.  In  1916,  the  Codification  Com- 
mittee of  the  National  Association  of  Corporation  Schools 
(See  Advance  Report  of  this  Committee)  collected  sta- 
tistics from  forty-seven  member-companies  showing  a 
total  of  approximately  12,000  students  in  all  kinds  of 
schools  maintained  by  these  member-companies.  The 
Bulletin  of  the  National  Association  of  Corporation 
Schools— (March  17th,  1916,  p.  10)— gives  a  total  of 
approximately  30,000  students  in  corporation  schools 
maintained  by  member-companies.  In  the  opinion  of  the 
writer,  the  schools  maintained  by  member-companies  of 
the  National  Association  of  Corporation  Schools  number 
approximately  half  the  entire  number  of  corporation 
schools  in  the  United  States,  so  that  according  to  this  esti- 
mate there  are  about  60,000  students  in  all  corporation 
schools  in  the  United  States. 

The  data  collected  by  the  writer  (see  Chapter  IV) 
show  that  less  than  1,000  of  these  students  are  college 
men  or  technically  trained  men,  from  which  we  conclude 
that  a  large  proportion  of  these  60,000  workers  are  in  the 
schools  for  retail  sales-people  or  in  the  trade  apprentice 
schools. 


58  Study  of  Corporation  Schools 

As  stated  earlier  in  this  chapter,  it  is  impossible  to 
present  a  picture  of  the  'typical'  corporation  school, 
though  the  following  description  of  individual  schools 
portrays  a  reasonably  accurate  picture  of  those  main- 
tained by  such  widely  different  interests  as  railroading, 
printing,  manufacturing,  and  banking. 

Southern  Pacific  Company  School 

The  apprenticeship  school  of  the  Southern  Pacific 
Company  is  described  by  Mr.  Norman  Colyer*  as  follows : 

*'To  my  knowledge  the  Southern  Pacific  Company 
was  the  first  railroad  in  the  United  States  to  adopt  an 
orderly  systematic  scheme  for  the  development  of  execu- 
tive talent  through  the  medium  of  apprenticeship.  The 
idea  was  conceived  and  put  into  effect  by  Julius  Krutt- 
schnitt  whiifc  Vice-president  and  general  manager  of  the 
company  at  San  Francisco.  It  was  first  crystallized  into 
syllabus  form,  under  the  administration  of  Vice-Presi- 
dent E.  E.  Calvin.  In  1909  it  was  broadened  and 
strengthened,  and  January  1,  1913,  by  direction  of 
President  Sproule,  it  was  extended  to  embrace  the  Traffic 
and  Accounting  as  well  as  the  Operating  Departments. 

* '  The  aim  of  our  student  course  is  to  give  to  young 
men  in  the  employ  of  the  Company  an  opportunity  to 
pass  through  different  departments  for  the  purpose  of 
gaining  such  coordinated  knowledge  of  the  entire  rail- 
road as  will  fit  them  better  to  assume  positions  of  re- 
sponsibility. It  is,  in  fact,  a  laboratory  course  wherein 
the  student  performs  the  actual  work  of  the  department 
to  which  he  may  be  assigned,  supplemented  by  a  parallel 
course  of  reading  in  text-books  and  railway  publications 
and  periodicals.  Much  thought  has  been  given  to  the 
arrangement  of  the  different  periods  and  further  changes 
are  under  consideration.    Briefly,  the  procedure  is  as  fol- 

*Circular  by  Norman  Colyer,  S.  P.  R.  R. 


Trade  and  Corpobation  Schools  59 

lows :  Upon  appointment,  the  student  is  first  placed  at 
a  station  of  medium  size  for  a  term  of  six  months.  This 
is  because  the  station  agent  handles  both  the  beginning 
and  the  end  of  transportation.  The  student  is  expected 
to  perform  such  duties  as  are  assigned  to  him  by  the 
agent,  and  the  agent  is  expected  to  afford  him  such  di- 
versified experience  as  will  give  him  an  all-round  knowl- 
edge of  station  work,  including  ticket  office,  warehouse, 
baggage  room,  yard,  and  the  solicitation  of  business. 
Being  an  extra  man,  the  student  is  not  bound  down  to 
routine,  but  is  permitted  to  distribute  his  time  in  such 
a  way  as  to  treat  each  feature  with  equal  thoroughness. 
Next,  the  student  is  assigned  consecutively  to  Mainte- 
nance of  Way,  the  office  of  the  Superintendent  of  Trans- 
portation, Motive  Power,  Train  Service,  Accounting  De- 
partment, and  Tariff  Bureau,  spending  three  months  in 
each.  This  completes  his  second  year  as  a  student,  and 
he  should  now  have  a  working  knowledge  of  the  several 
departments  of  the  railroad  and  their  mutual  inter- 
dependence. At  the  student's  option  (subject  to  the  ap- 
proval of  the  management)  he  next  el*  ',ts  to  specialise 
in  either  Operation  and  Maintenance,  Passenger  and 
Freight  Traffic,  or  Accounting.  If  he  chooses  Operation 
and  Maintenance,  his  progress  is  as  follows : 

Maintenance  of  Way 4  months 

Motive  Power 3 

Signals     2 

Stores  Department 2 

General  (Manager's    office 2 

Student  with  Trainmaster 5 

This  completes  forty-two  months^  service  as  a  student, 
which  is  the  length  of  the  course.  It  will  be  seen  that 
the  operating  student  has  gone  more  deeply  into  Main- 
tenance, Motive  Power  and  Transportation,  and  has  also 
taken  up  several  additional  features.  After  his  gradua- 
tion he  is  given  such  special  experience  as  is  needed  to 
fit  him  for  a  regular  position ;  thereafter  everything  de- 
pends on  himself. 


60  Study  op  Coepoeation  Schools 

''The  student  specializing  in  Passenger  and  Freight 
Traffic  spends  his  last  eighteen  months  as  follows : 

Passing  Report  Clerk  at  Gateway  Junction  Point .  .    3  months 

Passenger  Ticket  Office 6        ♦' 

Student  Solicitor  in  large  city 4        " 

Student  District  Freight  and  Passenger  Agent....    6        '* 

''If  he  specializes  in  Accounting,  the  distribution  is 
as  follows : 

Auditor   Freight   Accounts 3  months 

Auditor  Passenger  Accounts 8        " 

Division   Accounting   Bureau 6        " 

Auditor  of  Disbursements 8        " 

General    8        " 

' '  In  either  case,  after  the  final  polishing  off,  he  is  put 
into  the  railroad  sea  and  is  told  to  swim,  and  he  must 
either  swim  or  sink. 

"There  is  nothing  spectacular  about  the  Southern 
Pacific  Student  Course.  We  do  not  claim  to  make  super- 
intendents and  general  managers  overnight.  We  are 
just  trying  to  make  all-round  railroad  men  in  a  new 
way." 

LAKEsroE  Press  Apprentice  School 

The  modern  apprenticeship  school  originated  in  a 
printing  establishment,  and  the  printing  office  has  always 
been  a  most  fertile  field  for  the  development  of  such 
schools. 

The  school  for  apprentices  of  the  Lakeside  Press 
of  the  R.  R.  Donelley  and  Sons  Company,  Chicago,  was 
established  in  July,  1908.* 

At  the  Lakeside  Press  the  boys  are  taken  fresh  from 
school  and  are  taught  the  trade  under  competent  in- 
structors in  one  of  the  best  equipped  printing  offices  in 
the  country,  where  the  highest  grade  of  work  is  pro- 
duced. 

The  object  of  the  school  is  to  train  competent  work- 
men for  the  several  departments  of  the  establishment, — 

*School  for  Apprenticeg  Lakeside  Press,  Chicago. 


Trade  and  Corporation  Schools  61 

workmen  who  will  have  a  thoroughly  practical  and  theo- 
retical knowledge  of  the  printing  business,  and  some  of 
whom,  by  careful  selection,  will  be  able  to  fill  responsible 
executive  positions. 

A  special  room  is  provided  for  the  school,  one  part 
being  equipped  as  a  modern  schoolroom  and  the  other 
part  as  a  model  composing-room.  In  the  school  the  boys 
are  under  the  direction  of  instructors  who  devote  their 
entire  time  to  the  school:  the  supervisor,  who  teaches  a 
part  of  the  academic  work  and  has  general  oversight 
of  the  boys ;  the  instructor,  who  has  direct  charge  of  the 
academic  work  and  assists  the  supervisor ;  the  instructor 
in  printing,  who  has  charge  of  the  trade  instruction  in 
the  school;  and  the  instructor  in  presswork,  who  has 
charge  of  the  apprentices  in  the  pressrooms. 

Requirements  for  Admission. 

The  requirements  for  admission  are  that  a  boy  must 
be  a  grammar-school  graduate  between  fourteen  and  fif- 
teen years  of  age — the  nearer  fourteen  the  better.  The 
boy's  record  must  show  good  standing  in  his  studies, 
and  when  deemed  necessary  a  physical  examination  will 
be  given.  The  boy  must  be  of  good  moral  character,  he 
must  be  desirous  of  learning  the  printing  trade,  and 
his  parents  or  guardian  must  promise  to  cooperate  with 
the  school  in  looking  after  his  welfare.  The  supervisor 
of  the  school  arranges  to  interview  the  applicant,  who 
usually  applies  by  letter,  and  also  visits  the  parents.  If 
the  boy  appears  to  be  satisfactory,  he  is  given  a  fair  trial, 
and  if  both  the  boy  and  the  supervisor  of  the  school  are 
satisfied,  an  agreement  is  entered  into  between  The  Lake- 
side Press  and  the  boy  and  his  parents  for  the  term  of 
the  pre-apprenticeship  course  of  two  years. 

The  firm  agrees  to  teach  the  boy  for  two  years,  with 
the  provision  that  if  he  is  satisfactory  to  the  employer 


62  Study  of  Corporation  Schools 

he  shall  contract  for  five  additional  years,  as  a  full  ap- 
prentice in  such  department  as  the  firm  deems  best  suited 
to  his  ability  and  adaptability,  and  the  parents  agree 
that  the  boy  shall  remain  as  an  apprentice  for  a  term  of 
years  until  the  trade  is  learned. 

Pre-apprenticesJiip  Term  and  Wages, 

The  course  of  apprenticeship  is  divided  into  two 
periods:  first,  that  of  pre-apprenticeship,  for  the  first 
two  years,  during  which  time  the  boys  spend  half  time 
in  the  school  and  half  time  in  the  factory ;  and  second, 
that  of  apprenticeship,  when  the  boys  spend  full  time 
in  the  factory,  with  the  exception  of  several  hours  each 
week  when  they  attend  school. 

The  students  are  in  school  three  and  one-half  hours 
daily,  during  the  pre-apprenticeship  course,  and  are  di- 
vided into  two  classes,  graded  according  to  their  stand- 
ings. They  also  work  four  and  one-half  hours  daily  in 
the  shop,  or  at  work  connected  with  the  factory  or  count- 
ing-room. 

The  boys  receive  $2.40  per  week  during  the  first 
year  which  pay  is  gradually  increased  until  at  the  end 
of  the  third  year  they  receive  $6.00  per  week.  In  addi- 
tion to  this  wage,  beginning  with  the  second  year,  $1.00 
per  week  is  deposited  by  the  company  in  a  savings  asso- 
ciation which  is  paid  to  the  apprentice  as  a  bonus  upon 
completing  his  apprenticeship. 

The  contract  guarantees  the  boy  steady  employ- 
ment at  a  regularly  increased  wage,  and  guarantees  to 
the  company  the  continuous  services  of  the  boy  for  a 
definite  period. 

The  pre-apprentices  spend  one  and  three-quarters 
hours  daily  doing  academic  work ;  this  time  is  divided  into 
two  periods,  and  the  lessons  given  are  in  design,  English, 
and  mathematics,  alternating  with  history  and  elemen- 


Trade  and  Corporation  Schools  63 

tary  science.  The  lessons  in  design  are  applied  in  the 
written  as  well  as  the  printed  work,  in  all  the  different 
subjects.  Every  exercise  is  a  lesson  in  English.  The 
rules  laid  down  for  good  book  work  are  followed  in 
all  written  work.  Proof  marks  are  used  in  correcting 
all  exercises,  and  the  marks  are  definite  and  easily  under- 
stood. No  poor  work  is  accepted,  and  as  all  standings 
for  vacations  and  bonuses  are  time-basis  records,  the  boys 
learn  to  do  good  work  in  a  reasonable  length  of  time. 

The  pre-apprentices  spend  one  and  three-quarters 
hours  daily  in  the  schoolroom,  setting  type,  reading  proof, 
and  locking  up  small  forms;  the  lessons  are  carefully 
graded,  and  each  boy  is  treated  as  an  individual,  being 
advanced  as  fast  as  he  is  able  to  do  the  work.  The  boys 
are  taught  how  to  take  proofs,  and  they  learn  to  know 
that  good  proofs  must  show  the  type  correctly  placed 
upon  proper  paper  of  uniform  size,  reproducing  every 
character  in  an  even  color,  and  that  proofs  must  not  be 
soiled.  The  boys  also  learn  to  recognize  the  compositor's 
ideas  of  good  display  in  the  proofs  taken  in  the  factory. 
As  the  standard  is  high,  and  there  is  a  carefully  esti- 
mated time  on  each  job,  the  apprentices  soon  learn  to 
apply  themselves  and  do  the  work  right  at  the  be- 
ginning. 

At  the  end  of  two  years  when  the  pre-apprentice- 
ship  course  is  completed,  the  boys,  then  sixteen  years  of 
age,  enter  the  factory  as  regular  apprentices  to  learn 
some  one  of  the  trades  in  the  different  branches  of  the 
printing  business.  During  the  pre-apprenticeship  course 
they  become  acquainted  with  the  various  departments, 
and  with  this  knowledge  are  better  able  to  select  the  line 
of  work  for  which  they  are  best  fitted. 

Among  the  printing  trades  which  are  open  to  ap- 
prentices are:  composing,  linotype  and  monotvpe  oper- 
ating, bookbinding,  presswork,  feeding,  pho*        ''raving. 


64  Study  op  Corporation  Schools 

retouching,  lettering,  commercial  designing,  illustrating, 
and  lithographing. 

The  boys  are  under  supervision  during  the  appren- 
tice period,  and  are  scheduled  for  a  definite  time  to  each 
of  the  different  lines  of  work  in  the  trade  selected,  and 
are  given  every  opportunity  to  learn  the  trade  as  a 
whole. 

As  far  as  possible,  commercial  work  is  given,  mak- 
ing the  boys  realize  that  only  good  work  will  be  accepted, 
and  that  to  become  efficient  workmen  they  must  center 
their  attention  upon  the  work  in  hand.  The  present- 
day  industrial  education  is  really  an  art  education  with 
an  industrial  turn,  and  the  best  guide  toward  an  art 
education  is  producing  something  that  everybody  wants. 

The  academic  training,  begun  during  the  pre-ap- 
prenticeship  course,  is  continued  during  the  apprentice- 
ship ;  the  boys  attend  school  for  several  hours  each  week 
during  the  entire  course  and  receive  regular  pay.  The 
courses  of  instruction  advance,  and  new  subjects  are 
added  as  the  apprentices  master  the  work.  Much  atten- 
tion is  given  to  designing:  layouts  for  jobs  are  made, 
and  when  carried  out  in  type  are  carefully  criticized. 
Mechanics,  industrial  history,  English,  hygiene,  and 
economics  are  given,  thus  training  good  citizens  as  well 
as  producing  thorough,  reliable,  and  efficient  workmen. 

Reports  and  Standings. 

A  monthly  report  of  standings  is  also  sent  to  the 
parents,  with  the  shop  report.  The  method  of  figuring 
standings  is  explained  below.  A  graph  of  the  average 
monthly  standing  is  also  shown  on  the  report  card. 

All  standings  are  based  upon  the  quality  and  the 
quantity  of  work  done.  Time  limits  are  set  on  each  job 
or  assigned  task,  according  to  past  experience.  If  the 
jobs  are  performed  within  the  time  limit  set,  and  the 


Trade  and  Corporation  Schools  65 

quality  of  the  work  is  up  to  the  standard  of  the  depart- 
ment, a  credit  of  100  is  given,  which  means  satisfactory 
work,  both  as  to  quality  and  quantity.  The  quality  must 
be  standard,  hence  the  standing  becomes  largely  a  time- 
basis  record.  Above  100  indicates  excellent  work — 
standard  quality  in  less  than  the  time  limit.  Ninety- 
five  is  the  bonus  standard,  ninety  is  fair,  and  eighty-five 
is  failure. 

HigJi-ScJiool  Graduates, 

Special  courses  for  high  school  graduates  are  main- 
tained in  the  school.  Each  year  a  number  of  carefully 
selected  young  men,  who  have  completed  a  high  school 
course,  are  employed.  These  young  men  spend  some  time 
in  learning  how  printing  is  produced,  in  order  to  pre- 
pare for  executive  positions  in  the  offices  or  the  factory. 
They  are  entered  as  high  school  special  apprentices,  and 
are  given  every  opportunity  to  learn  the  business. 

The  length  of  time  served  depends  upon  the  line  of 
work  selected.  The  young  men  are  paid  an  initial  salary 
of  $8.00  a  week,  with  regular  increases,  and  a  salary  of 
$15.00  a  week  when  the  preliminary  training  is  com- 
pleted. The  salary  thereafter  depends  entirely  upon 
the  ability  of  the  individual. 

Ford  English  School  for  Foreigners* 

Ford  Motor  Company 

Brief  History 

The  Ford  English  School  was  started  in  May  1914 
with  one  teacher  and  twenty  pupils.  The  latter  part  of 
the  same  month,  five  experienced  teachers  took  up  the 
work  for  demonstration  and  found  the  plan  employed 

*See  Refs.  36  &  37. 


66  Study  op  Cobpoeation  Schools 

to  be  very  successful.  In  September  following,  a  call 
was  made  for  volunteer  teachers  from  the  Plant.  The 
response  was  so  generous  and  the  interest  was  so  splen- 
didly maintained  that  the  enrollment  of  the  English 
School  was  soon  increased  to  2700.  The  enrollment  has 
remained  about  the  same,  as  there  is  thus  far  no  space 
to  accommodate  more  men. 

The  Course, 

The  course  consists  of  72  lessons  taught  in  36  weeks, 
and  in  this  length  of  time  a  foreigner  of  any  nationality 
is  taught  to  read,  write  and  speak  simple  English. 

Classes  in  penmanship  and  naturalization  are  also 
conducted  under  the  best  teachers  obtainable. 

The  Method  of  Teaching. 

The  Cumulative  Method  of  Dramatic  English  Teach- 
ing is  used.  This  system  may  be  defined  as  an  adapta- 
tion of  the  Francis  Gouin  method  which  originated  in 
Germany  about  the  year  1710;  but  the  Ford  system 
differs  from  this  and  all  other  existing  systems  in  that 
it  furnishes  instruction  sheets  and  classroom  programs 
for  the  guidance  of  the  teacher,  and  also  employs  and 
emphasizes  the  cumulative  method  of  dramatization. 

The  Teachers, 

The  teachers  are  volunteers  who  are  willing  in  the 
spirit  of  **Help  the  Other  Fellow '*  to  give  their  own 
time  without  pay  to  the  work  of  teaching  the  foreigners 
English.  The  teachers  are  all  employees  of  the  com- 
pany and  come  from  all  parts  of  the  Plant.  These  men 
are  put  into  a  teachers'  training  class  which  meets  every 
week,  and  after  twelve  weeks'  training  they  are  given 


Trade  and  Corporation  Schools  67 

classes  as  substitute  teachers.  They  may  then  teach  two 
school  periods  per  week,  each  period  lasting  one  and 
one-half  hours.  When  they  prove  themselves  satisfac- 
tory as  teachers,  they  are  given  regular  classes. 

Graduating  Classes. 

On  July  25th,  1915,  the  first  class  of  115  men  was^ 
graduated.  The  second  class  consisting  of  519  men  waS' 
graduated  on  February  27th,  1916 ;  the  third  class  con- 
sisting of  230  men  was  graduated  on  October  1,  1916. 
Each  of  these  classes  had  a  representative  who  made  an 
address  in  English  as  part  of  the  program  of  the  gradu- 
ating exercises.  These  classes  represented  over  fifty  na- 
tionalities. Each  graduate  of  the  school  receives  a  di- 
ploma signed  by  the  officers  of  the  Company  and  the 
Educational  Department  certifying  that  he  can  read, 
write  and  speak  English  sufficiently  well  for  all  the  cpm- 
mon  usages  of  life. 

The  American  Club, 

The  American  Club  is  an  organization  of  the  school 
alumni.  All  graduates  are  eligible.  This  Club  meets 
twice  each  month  to  hear  a  program  of  music,  a  short 
lesson  in  American  history  or  geography  and  to  see 
moving  pictures  on  educational  subjects.  The  members 
are  taught  patriotic  songs,  and  frequently  give  the  school 
and  country  yells. 

Americanization  Bay. 

Historic  events  in  which  the  school  participated  was 
the  Americanization  program  of  Independence  Day  1915 
and  1916.  Two  thousand  Ford  English  School  pupils 
and  four  thousand  other  Ford  employees  marched  to  the 
Detroit  city  hall,  where  they  were  met  by  the  Mayor  and 


68  Study  of  Corporation  Schools 

other  City  Officials.  Massed  in  front  of  the  City  Hall 
the  men  sang  ''America"  and  then  proceeded  to  Belle 
Isle  where  they  participated  in  the  Americanization  Day 
program.  It  was  this  event  which  stimulated  the  Board 
of  Commerce  and  the  Board  of  Education  of  Detroit  to 
undertake  on  a  large  scale,  the  teaching  of  English  by 
the  Ford  method  in  the  night  schools  of  the  city.  From 
this  beginning  the  work  has  spread  to  other  cities,  and 
other  corporations  are  taking  up  the  cumulative  system 
of  dramatic  English  teaching,  initiated  at  the  Ford  Plant. 

Advanced  Englisli. 

This  department  is  maintained  for  any  one  in  the 
Plant  who  wishes  instruction  in  grammar,  composition, 
etc.  A  class  is  also  maintained  in  practical  psychology 
for  the  benefit  of  those  interested. 

Teachers*  Training  Classes. 

These  are  two  in  number.  First,  the  training  class 
already  mentioned  fitting  men  to  become  skilled  teachers 
of  foreigners.  In  this  class  precisely  the  same  methods 
are  used  on  the  future  teachers  as  are  used  in  the  daily 
classroom  with  foreigners. 

Second,  the  class  in  public  speaking.    In  this  class 
all  who  desire  it  are  given  instruction  and  practice  in  the 
fundamentals  and  principles  of  public  speaking. 
Results. 

Since  the  school  was  started  in  the  plant  accidents 
in  the  production  departments  have  decreased  54%.  A 
large  force  of  interpreters  were  used  before  the  school 
was  started ;  now  but  few  are  necessary. 


Trade  and  Corporation  Schools  69 

The  Banking  Apprenticeship  Plan* 
The  National  City  Bank 

Experience  has  shown  that  many  important  positions, 
including  officer  ships,  are  filled  by  men  who  entered  the 
Bank  as  boys.  The  Bank  has,  therefore,  endeavored  to 
employ  only  boys  of  the  highest  type — boys  of  real  pro- 
motional possibilities.  This  has  led  the  Bank  to  become 
interested  in  developing  a  closer  relationship  with  the 
schools.  So  far  the  Bank's  efforts  in  this  direction  have 
been  quite  successful.  The  college  cooperative  plan,  in- 
augurated two  years  ago,  whereby  each  year  a  number 
of  the  leading  universities  nominate  students  for  mem- 
bership in  The  College  Training  Class,  has  resulted  in 
the  training  of  over  seventy-five  men  for  service  at  home 
and  abroad. 

A  further  step  toward  a  closer  relationship  with  edu- 
cational interests  is  now  contemplated.  Arrangements 
are  being  made  with  a  number  of  elementary  and  high 
schools  whereby  every  term  each  school  will  nominate 
not  more  than  three  boys  for  membership  in  the  Bank- 
ing Apprenticeship  Class. 

The  cooperating  schools  must  be  within  a  distance 
which  make  it  possible  for  the  nominee  to  live  at  home 
while  working  for  the  Bank. 

The  boys  nominated  by  the  cooperating  schools  will 
be  interviewed  by  a  Bank  official  who  has  had  special 
experience  in  the  selection  of  boys.  No  boy  should  be 
over  nineeteen  years  of  age.  Boys  under  sixteen  years 
of  age  must  be  in  possession  of  '^ working  papers''  and 
all  must  have  had  at  least  an  elementary  school  edu- 
cation. 

Length  of  Apprenticeship 

The  apprenticeship  will  cover  a  period  of  from  two 
to  four  years,  depending  upon  the  age  and  education 

*See  Banking  Apprenticeship  Plan,  by  Nat.  City  Bank. 


0  Study  of  Corporation  Schools 

of  the  nominees,  and  will  be  subject,  of  course,  to  the 
Bank's  right  to  terminate  at  any  time,  without  notice 
and  without  any  further  obligation  on  its  part,  the  ap- 
prenticeship of  any  boy  who,  in  the  opinion  of  an  officer, 
does  not  show  sufficient  promise  to  warrant  his  continu- 
ing the  course. 

Selection  of  Nominees. 

In  passing  upon  the  nominees,  the  Bank's  custom  of 
expressing  in  quantitative  terms  the  opinions  of  personal 
qualities  and  the  results  of  native  ability  tests  will  be 
followed. 

The  qualities  considered  are : 

a.  Appearance  and  manner.  c.  Industry. 

1).  Initiative  and  self-reliance.        d.  Scholarship.  e.  Character. 

The  applicant's  native  intellectual  ability  is  deter- 
mined by  a  number  of  tests  which  seek  to  measure  those 
qualities  of  mind  which  are  necessary  for  the  efficient 
performance  of  bank  work.    Among  these  qualities  are : 

a.  The  ability  to  handle  figures.  d.  Reasoning  ability. 

b.  Power  of  concentration.  e.  Accuracy. 

c.  Memory,  and  powers  of  observation.  f.   Alertness  and  Speed. 

One  of  the  Bank 's  medical  examiners  will  pass  upon 
the  applicant's  physical  fitness. 
Training. 

The  training  in  general  will  be  very  practical.  Train- 
ing which  is  practical  for  the  banking  profession  is 
to  a  large  extent  broadening  and  cultural  as  well.  The 
plan  comprises  four  distinct  features : 

1.  Shifting  to  new  Departments. 

2.  Attendance   upon   the   Training  ClasBes. 

3.  The   Regular   Class   Work. 

4.  The  InterviewB. 

Shifting  to  New  Departments. 

Apprentices  will  be  shifted  to  new  departments  from 
time  to  time  to  secure  as  wide  practice  and  experience  as 


Trade  and  Corporation  Schools  71 

is  compatible  with  the  rendering  of  efficient  service. 
Each  apprentice  is  thus  assured  of  an  opportunity  to 
become  acquainted  with  the  routine  of  a  number  of  the 
more  important  departments.  He  will  commence  work 
as  a  page,  messenger  or  file  clerk,  depending  upon  his 
age  and  education. 

The  Page  Class. 

Up  to  a  year  ago,  when  office  boys  and  pages  were 
employed  and  put  to  work,  the  Bank,  like  many  other 
concerns,  left  their  acquisition  of  much  important  in- 
formation very  largely  to  chance.  The  Office  Practice 
Class,  organized  last  year,  has  served  in  a  degree  to 
remedy  this  situation.  But  as  it  is  important  that  cer- 
tain information  be  given  during  the  first  few  days  that 
a  boy  is  in  the  Bank,  a  Page  Class  has  been  started  which 
among  other  things  gives  instruction  in  the  following : 

a.  The  Value  of  Courtesy. 

b.  Bank  Geography. 

c.  How  to  Use  the  Telephone  in  The  National  City  Bank. 

d.  Important  Rules. 
0.  The  Officers, 

f.  Important  Facts  About  the  Bank. 

g.  How  to  Handle  the  Tubes. 

h.  Simple  Functions  of  the  Departments. 
i.  Simple  Bank  Forms. 
J.  The  Work  on  the  Platforms. 

The  class  meets  twice  weekly  and  in  one  month,  or 
eight  sessions,  the  material  is  covered.  An  examination 
is  held  at  the  end  of  each  month,  and  those  making  a 
passing  mark  are  allowed  to  discontinue  the  class.  Those 
failing  to  pass  must  repeat  the  course  with  the  new  boys 
who  have  entered  the  Bank  since  the  class  started. 

The  Messenger  Class. 

This  class  is  intended  for  young  men  entering  the 
employ  of  the  Bank  as  messengers,  and  for  pages  who 
are  shortly  to  be  promoted  to  the  Messengers'  Depart- 


72  Study  of  Corporation  Schools 

ment.  Its  purpose  is  to  describe  in  detail  the  work  and 
duties  of  the  messengers,  mentioning  every  possible  task 
or  duty  and  explaining  the  proper  method  of  handling 
each  case.  The  reasons  for  doing  things  in  certain  ways 
are  explained,  and  the  underlying  principles  of  each 
transaction  discussed. 

Tlie  Filing  Class. 

When  a  boy  is  to  be  promoted  to  the  File  Room,  he 
is  required  to  join  the  Filing  Class,  which  is  conducted 
on  the  same  principle  and  in  the  same  manner  as  the 
Page  and  Messengers'  Classes.  If,  after  one  month's 
instruction,  he  cannot  make  satisfactory  showing  in  the 
test,  it  is  assumed  that  he  is  not  fitted  for  this  work  and 
he  is  shifted  to  work  of  another  nature.  The  class  then 
accomplishes  two  important  things :  It  provides  a  splen- 
did preliminary  training  for  every  boy  who  will  enter 
the  Filing  Department,  making  it  possible  for  him  to 
render  efficient  service  from  the  start,  and  second,  it  pre- 
vents placing  boys  in  filing  work  who  are  not  fitted  for 
that  work. 

The  Regular  Class  Woj'k. 

In  addition  to  taking  from  time  to  time  the  Train- 
ing Courses  just  described,  the  apprentice  will  attend 
during  each  school  year,  October  1st  to  June  1st,  the 
classes  shown  below. 

All  classes,  with  the  exception  of  language,  meet  once 
a  week.  The  class  hours  are  from  8 :15  to  9 :00  A.  M. 
and  from  5  :00  to  5  :45  P.  M.  During  the  first  two  years, 
four  class  periods  will  be  required  each  week.  There- 
after the  requirement  will  be  two  periods. 

In  addition  to  the  special  work  required  in  the  Page 
Class,  the  Filing  Class,  and  the  Messenger  Class,  the 
following  courses  are  required:  arithmetic,  office  prac- 


Trade  and  Corporation  Schools  73 

tice,  English,  penmanship,  banking  and  bookkeeping; 
while  optional  courses  are  offered  in  typewriting,  sten- 
ography, commercial  geography,  economics,  and  ad- 
vanced general  reading. 

TJie  Interviews. 

As  the  apprentice  goes  about  his  work,  he  will  re- 
ceive careful  attention  and  supervision.  Every  effort 
will  be  made  to  direct  his  energies  properly  and  to  set 
him  right  when  he  makes  mistakes. 

In  addition,  he  will  be  included  in  the  Interview  Plan 
of  the  Bank,  which  is  briefly  described  as  follows : 

Three  times  a  year  each  employee  has  an  interview 
with  an  officer.  Preparatory  to  this  talk  the  employee 
is  given  a  physical  examination  by  the  bank  physician, 
a  report  on  his  educational  activities  is  made  out,  and  a 
Personal  Report  form  is  filled  out  by  the  department 
head.  This  Personal  Report  covers  the  following 
qualities : 

a.  Interest  in  the  work. 

b.  Aptitude. 

c.  Reliability. 

d.  Accuracy. 

e.  Tact. 

f.  Speed.  , 

g.  Cooperation. 

h.  Address  and  Personality. 

i.   Self-confidence. 

J.  Initiative. 
k.  Courtesy. 

With  these  three  reports  before  him,  the  officer  is 
able  to  talk  more  intelligently  to  the  employee  concern- 
ing his  work  and  progress.  He  points  out  mistakes  and 
weak  points  and  commends  the  good  features.  He  asks 
for  suggestions  and  listens  to  complaints,  gives  advice, 
and  in  fact  has  a  heart-to-heart  talk  with  the  employee 
concerning  his  work  and  his  future. 


74  Study  of  Coepoeation  Schools 


Outside  Courses. 


A  feature  of  the  Bank's  educational  work  that  will 
appeal  strongly  to  apprentices  is  the  new  plan  of  sup- 
plementing the  Bank's  classes  with  approved  outside 
courses.  It  is  felt  that  the  Bank  can  best  devote  its  time 
and  energies  to  the  more  directly  practical  instruction, 
and  that  those  desiring  to  specialize  in  any  particular 
subject  will  profit  most  by  enrolling  in  a  local  business 
school  or  college.  Accordingly,  a  cooperative  arrange- 
ment is  being  made  with  a  number  of  schools  which  will 
enable  our  employees  to  take  the  above  subjects,  and 
such  other  courses  as  may  be  recommended,  outside  the 
Bank.  The  fees  for  these  outside  courses  will  be  re- 
funded by  the  City  Bank  Club  upon  the  satisfactory 
completion  of  the  work. 

Opportunity  to  Enter  Foreign  Service, 

One  of  the  most  important  features  of  the  Bank's 
educational  work  is  the  training  of  men  for  foreign  serv- 
ice. Heretofore,  the  men  comprising  this  group,  known 
as  the  College  Training  Class,  have  been  chosen  ex- 
clusively from  various  universities.  Hereafter  appren- 
tices who  make  exceptional  records  in  bank  and  class 
work  will  be  eligible  for  appointment  to  this  class. 

Selections  will  be  based  upon  merit  only.  The  fac- 
tors considered  are: 

a.  Record  in  Bank  work. 

1).  Record  in  general   class  work. 

c.  Record  in  language  class  work. 

d.  Personality,    and  general  all-round  showing. 

Applicants  must  not  be  under  20  nor  over  23  years 
of  age. 

Physical  Examinations. 

Each  boy  must  pass  a  physical  examination  before 
entering  the  Bank.     Thereafter,  every  three  months  he 


Trade  and  Corporation  Schools  75 

will  be  given  a  thorough  examination  by  one  of  the 
Bank's  examining  physicians.  Between  examinations  a 
physician  is  available  to  render  medical  advice,  and  give 
treatment  for  ordinary  ailments. 

Salary. 

Four  year  apprentices  will  enj:er  the  Bank  on  a  salary 
of  $250.00  per  year.  The  three  year  boys  will  start  on 
$300.00,  and  the  two  year  apprentices,  $350.00.  A  mini- 
mum increase  of  $50.00  per  year  will  be  made  during  the 
term  of  the  apprenticeship,  while  upon  the  completion 
of  the  course  each  apprentice  will  be  given  a  bonus  of 
$100.00. 

In  this  chapter  an  effort  has  been  made  to  present 
a  general  survey  of  the  corporation  school;  in  the  suc- 
ceeding chapters  are  discussed  some  of  the  fundamental 
principles  of  organization  and  administration  in  these 
43chools. 


76  Study  of  Coeporation  Schools 


PART  II 
THE  EFFICIENCY  OF  CORPORATION  SCHOOLS 

Chapter  IV 

The  Efficiency  of  the  Corporation  School  as  Tested 
BY  Business  Concerns  Which  Maintain  Them 

We  now  come  to  an  examination  of  the  corporation 
school  in  the  light  of  the  aims  of  such  schools  as  set  forth 
by  the  National  Association  of  Corporation  Schools. 
These  aims  are:^  first,  **to  develop  to  the  limit  the  effi- 
ciency of  the  individual  employee;  and  second,  to  in- 
crease industrial  efficiency  in,  general. ' ' 

In  this  chapter  we  set  forth  the  results  of  our  investi- 
gation of  the  efficiency  of  corporation  schools  as  deter- 
mined by  such  standards  as  have  been  set  up  by  business 
concerns  themselves. 

In  Chapter  II  reference  was  made  to  the  high  state 
of  development  of  craftmanship  under  the  craft-gild  ap- 
prenticeship system,  and  the  origin  of  the  corporation 
school  was  found  in  the  decadence  of  that  system. 

It  would  be  highly  desirable  to  compare  the  efficiency 
of  the  present  system  with  that  of  the  system  which  it 
has  displaced  but  such  a  comparison  would  be  manifestly 
misleading  if  not  impossible.  The  social  and  industrial 
conditions  which  were  dominant  factors  in  the  older  sys- 
tem have  undergone  an  almost  complete  transformation, 
and  the  present  system  of  apprenticeship  is  affected  by 
many  new  factors  quite  lacking  under  the  old  system. 
Among  these  new  factors  are  a  wide-spread  general  edu- 
cation, and  the  many  opportunities  for  special  technical 

»Cbap.  III. 


Efficiency  77 

training,  a  great  increase  in  the  number  of  trades  and 
professions,  and  entirely  different  methods  of  manufac- 
turing owing  to  the  almost  universal  use  of  power  ma- 
chinery. Any  conclusions,  therefore,  which  might  be 
based  upon  such  a  comparison  would  be  almost  valueless, 
not  only  on  account  of  widely  different  conditions  but 
also  because  of  an  almost  complete  lack  of  data  for  com- 
parison. 

Business  concerns  have  assumed  the  responsibility  for 
the  training  of  their  apprentices  not,  as  a  rule,  from  phil- 
anthropic or  humanitarian  motives,  but  for  business  rea- 
sons, though  one  of  the  leaders  in  corporation  school  work 
says  that ' '  It  is  a  movement  to  introduce  the  human  ele- 
ment into  industry.  "2  This  recognition  of  the  human 
element  is  becoming  increasingly  common,  especially  in 
those  firms  which  have  organized  training  departments. 
The  improved  conditions  cited,  though  they  may  be  cred- 
ited largely  to  the  training  departments,  are  due  partly 
to  recent  legislation  requiring  better  working  conditions, 
and  the  installation  of  safety  appliances.^ 

The  warrant,  however,  for  a  training  department 
must  still  be  found  in  purely  business  reasons  which  ap- 
peal to  stock  holders,  and  directors  whose  duty  it  is  to 
produce  dividends.  These  reasons  are  five  in  number: 
first,  an  inadequate  supply  of  young  employees  to  meet 
the  demand  of  developing  industry;  second,  a  lack  of 
highly  skilled  or  technically  trained  men  qualified  for 
promotion ;  third,  a  demand  for  a  higher  grade  of  com- 
mercial products  than  can  be  produced  by  unskilled 
labor;  fourth,  a  too  frequent  turn-over  of  labor;  and 
fifth,  a  very  considerable  annual  expense  through  waste 
of  material  and  through  accidents  resulting  from  the 
carelessness  or  ignorance  of  untrained  operatives. 

The  evidence  of  improvement  in  efficiency  on  these 


»Ref.  34,  p.  12. 
'Ref.  33,  pp.  57-58. 


78  Study  op  Coepoeation  Schools 

five  points  is  of  two  kinds :  first,  the  almost  unanimous 
opinion  of  the  officials  of  the  firms  which  maintain  these 
schools ;  and  second,  extracts  from  the  records  of  a  large 
number  of  these  concerns. 

In  the  writer's  correspondence  with  company  offi- 
cials and  corporation  school  directors,  the  almost  uni- 
versal tenor  is  to  the  effect  that  their  schools  supply 
these  deficiencies  and  produce  these  results.  Personal 
interviews  with  officials  and  company  employees  rein- 
force this  evidence. 

The  strongest  objective  evidence  of  the  efficiency  of 
these  schools  from  the  company 's  standpoint,  lies  in  their 
rapid  multiplication  in  recent  years.  The  report  of  the 
first  annual  convention  of  the  National  Association  of 
Corporation  Schools*  shows  that  but  five  corporation 
schools  had  been  established  before  1905,  while  the  fourth 
annual  report,^  shows  that  this  number  had  grown  to  201 
apprenticeship  schools.  Further  evidence  is  in  the  fact 
that  the  writer  has  been  unable  to  learn  of  the  discon- 
tinuance of  any  of  these  schools  except  in  a  few  cases 
where  cooperative  relations  have  been  established  with 
public  or  other  educational  agencies.^  One  authority^ 
reports  six  of  112  schools  discontinued,  but  he  fails  to 
state  the  reasons  for  their  discontinuance. 

In  but  a  single  case  has  a  company  official  reported 
the  apprentice  school  as  unsatisfactory^  and  the  reason 
for  that  failure  was  to  be  found  in  the  unfavorable  atti- 
tude of  the  older  employees  toward  the  apprentices. 

The  fact  that  the  older  apprenticeship  schools  con- 
tinue to  exist  and  that  new  schools  are  multiplying  rap- 
idly is  strong  evidence  that  they  are  accomplishing  the 
purposes  for  which  they  are  established. 

*R«f.  81,  p.  120. 

•Ref.  27,  pp.  164  et.  9«q. 

•Ret.  18,  pp.  282.  289,  294,  801. 

'Industrial  Education  in  Cincinnati,  p.  4.     Alto  R«f.  88,  p.  199. 

•See  Chap.  III.     Type  B. 


Efficiency  79 

1.  The  development  of  trained  workers 

The  number  of  applications  for  apprenticeships  varies 
with  business  conditions,  and  business  conditions  of  the 
past  few  years  have  developed  a  great  demand  for  work- 
ers. The  evidence  gained  by  the  writer's  correspondence 
and  consultation  with  company  officials  supports  the 
statement  that  the  corporation  school,  in  a  great  measure, 
meets  this  demand.  There  are  approximately  60,000  stu- 
dent-apprentices in  the  corporation  schools  of  the  United 
States  and  this  number  constitutes  a  constant  source  of 
supply  of  trained  workers.^ 

2.  The  development  of  managerial  talent 

The  development  of  managerial  talent  is  another  aim 
set  up  by  business  men.  Here,  too,  the  evidence  is  in 
favor  of  the  corporation  school.  ^^  The  Chaix  Printing 
Company  of  Paris,  France,  which  operates  the  oldest 
corporation  school,  reported  in  1902,^1  that  of  the  1,200 
employees  of  the  company,  including  many  of  the  fore- 
men, 250  were  graduates  of  the  apprentice  school.  Mr. 
Norman  Colyer,  of  the  Southern  Pacific  Railroad  Com- 
pany, reports  that,  of  68  important  promotions,  18  per 
cent  were  given  to  graduates  of  the  special  training 
course,  12  ^j^^g  giving  18  per  cent  of  the  better  positions 
to  a  small  fraction  of  one  per  cent  of  the  employees  of  the 
company. 

The  Winchester  Repeating  Arms  Company,  reports^^ 
that  a  large  number  of  their  apprenticeship  graduates 
are  now  company  foremen.  The  Pennsylvania  Railroad 
Company  school  is  credited  with  being  *  *  a  most  valuable 
selective  medium  for  drawing  men  into  official  work.''^* 

•Ref.  27,  p.  825  et  eeq. 

"Ref.  16,  p.  386. 

«Ref.  16,  p.  857. 

"See  bulletin  Students'  Course,  S.  P.  B.  B.  Co. 

"Ref.  19,  p.  192. 

"Natl.  Assn.  Corp.  Schools,  Bulletin  June,  1914. 


80  Study  of  Corporation  Schools 

Another  report  states  that  65  per  cent  of  the  executives 
of  the  company  come  up  through  the  apprenticeship 
school. 

The  development  of  foremen  and  company  executives 
is  one  of  the  functions  of  the  special  training  school  de- 
scribed in  Chapter  III.  Here  a  distinct  type  of  appren- 
tice is  sought  and  only  men  who  have  had  some  technical 
training,  and  in  most  cases  a  complete  technical  training, 
are  sought  for  these  courses.  Many  of  the  companies 
which  maintain  such  courses  find  it  necessary  every  year 
to  visit  the  universities  and  technical  schools,  in  compe- 
tition with  other  concerns,  to  seek  the  services  of  desirable 
new  executive  material  in  the  graduating  classes. 

During  the  months  of  January  and  February,  1917, 
in  reply  to  a  questionnaire  sent  to  all  the  member  com- 
panies of  the  National  Association  of  Corporation 
Schools,  the  writer  collected  data  from  twenty  firms 
which  maintain  special  training  schools.  The  question- 
naire asked,  among  other  things,  the  characteristic  fea- 
tures of  the  special  training  courses  offered  and  the  ap- 
proximate number  of  technical  men  employed  each  year. 
These  twenty  firms  reported  a  maximal  annual  demand 
in  their  training  departments  for  a  total  of  887  college 
graduates  and  men  with  technical  training  or  experience. 
These  men  are  selected  with  great  care  and  they  are 
usually  given  such  special  training  in  the  business  of  the 
company  and  in  practical  engineering  as  will  fit  them  for 
important  technical  and  managerial  positions. 

Some  of  these  special  training  schools  have  been  in 
operation  for  twenty-five  years  and  the  writer  has  not 
had  information  of  the  discontinuance  of  a  single  school 
through  a  failure  to  accomplish  this  end.  The  persist- 
ence of  these  schools  is  strong  evidence  that  they  accom- 
plish the  second  end  for  which  they  are  established  by 
developing  men  for  managerial  positions. 


ErnciENCY  81 

3.  Improvement  in  quality  of  output 

The  third  criterion  applied  by  business  men  to  their 
apprenticeship  schools  is  the  improvement  in  the  quality 
of  the  work  done.  Unfortunately,  here  few  data  are 
available,  though  all  company  officials  report,  so  far  as 
reports  are  available,  that  one  of  the  noticeable  outcomes 
of  their  training  departments  is  the  improved  quality 
of  the  work.  One  firm  reports  a  reduction  of  unit  office 
cost  per  business  transaction,  from  $1.16  to  $.57  in  three 
years,  because  of  better  trained  office  help,  making  a 
total  saving  to  the  company  of  $45,000.  Another  firm 
handled  11,247  more  orders  during  one  year,  with  four- 
teen fewer  employees,  all  on  account  of  greater  efficiency 
as  a  result  of  training.  ^^  A  representative  of  a  large  rail- 
road company  reported  that  through  their  system  of 
training  men,  his  company  had  made  more  progress  in 
four  years  than  in  the  preceding  twenty-five  years  when 
dependence  was  upon  other  means  of  getting  trained 
men.^^ 

4.  Decrease  in  tJie  turn-over  of  labor 

The  fourth  test  applied  by  business  concerns  to  cor- 
poration school  efficiency  relates  to  their  effect  upon  the 
turn-over  of  labor. 

It  is  not  in  order  in  this  study  to  examine  into  the 
details  of  the  causes  which  affect  the  tenure  of  employees. 
This  has  been  done  by  other  writers.  ^^  It  is  essential  here 
to  report  only  the  bearing  which  corporation  schools  have 
on  the  question. 

The  manager  of  one  large  department  store  stated 
that  his  firm  could  not  interest  itself  in  the  training  of 
sales-people  because  of  a  turn  of  labor  five  times  a  year, 
and  a  training  department  would  simply  mean  the  train- 

»Ref.  19,  p.  650. 
"Ref.  19,  p.  220. 
»TRef.  19,  p.  677. 


82  Study  of  Corporation  Schools 

ing  of  people  for  other  stores.  Most  company  officials 
interviewed  show  a  somewhat  broader  spirit,  and  where 
schools  have  been  in  existence  long  enough,  the  officials 
are  almost  unanimous  in  reporting  an  increase  in  the 
tenure  of  employees,  and  they  credit  this  improvement 
to  the  corporation  school. 

This  credit,  however,  cannot  be  given  wholly  to  the 
training  department,  for  many  concerns,  simultaneously 
with  the  installation  of  training  departments,  have  in- 
stalled welfare  work,  one  of  the  chief  functions  of  which 
is  to  decrease  the  turn-over  of  labor.  ^^ 

Extracts  from  the  reports  in  the  hands  of  the  writer, 
on  the  lengthened  tenure  of  employees  follow : 

Mr.  L.  Atherton,  director  of  apprentices  at  the  plant 
of  Swift  and  Company,  reports  that  at  the  end  of  six- 
teen months  the  average  tenure  of  the  boys  in  his  depart- 
ment has  been  increased  from  3.5  to  8.5  months.  Of  395 
boys  hired  during  three  years,  192  were  at  the  end  of 
that  time  still  in  the  employ  of  the  company.  ^^ 

Mr.  Townley,  assistant  superintendent  of  the  J.  L. 
Hudson  Department  Store  Company,  of  Detroit,  reported 
a  "very  marked  improvement"  in  the  turn  of  labor,  and 
he  credited  the  improvement,  in  part  at  least,  to  the  edu- 
cational department. 

The  Cadillac  Company,  of  Detroit,  graduated  a  total 
of  144  apprentices  from  their  training  courses  in  6  years, 
of  whom  63  were  still  with  the  company  at  the  end  of  that 
period,  while  36  were  in  the  automobile  service  of  other 
companies. 

The  Denver  Gas  and  Electric  Company  has  since  the 
installation  of  its  student  training  course,  taken  on  145 
men,  116  of  whom — or  67  per  cent — are  still  with  the 
company. 

The  Denison  Manufacturing  Company  reports  that  it 

"Ref.  19,  p.  721. 
»Ref.  19,  p.  642. 


Efficiency  83 

costs  from  $50  to  $75  to  train  a  new:  worker,  and  that  it 
has  saved  approximately  $25,000  in  4  years  by  reducing 
the  turn-over  of  labor  from  68  per  cent  in  1911  to  28  per 
cent  in  1915,  through  proper  training  and  supervision  of 
employees.2<> 

The  General  Electric  Company  is  reported  as  spend- 
ing $831,000  in  hiring  and  discharging  annually  over 
22,000  employees. 21  The  purpose  of  the  training  and 
welfare  work  of  this  company  is  to  reduce  this  enormous 
expense. 

Another  company  reported  2,649  college  men  taken 
into  its  special  training  course  during  the  past  10  years 
and  55  per  cent  of  those  taken  during  the  past  7  years 
still  with  the  company. 22 

The  Winchester  Repeating  Arms  Company  reported 
that  about  90  per  cent  of  the  apprenticeship  graduates 
remain  permanently  with  the  company  and  that  several 
of  these  graduates  are  now  foremen. 23 

The  Southern  Pacific  Railroad  Company  report  shows 
9  graduates  of  their  student  course  still  in  the  employ  of 
the  company,  with  an  average  term  of  service  to  date,  of 
8  years,  and  3  months.24 

The  Burroughs  Adding  Machine  Company  shows 
after  8  years  of  experience  that,  with  20  apprentices  at 
all  times,  25  per  cent  of  them  remain  permanently  with 
the  company.25 

The  most  complete  statement  available  contains  data 
for  1913,  from  33  companies,  all  but  3  of  which  have 
established  schools  since  1905  :^^ 

Total  number  of  trade  apprentices 7,420 

Total   number  of  graduates 1,978 

Total  number  still  in  the  employ  of  the  company  where  training 

was  received 1,854 

Total  number  in  executive  positions 129 

aoRef.   19,  pp.  667,   668. 

^New  York  Evening  World,  Nov.  21,   1916. 

22Ref.  19,  p.  196. 

'"Ret.  19,  p.  192. 

^Norman  Colyer,  Southern  Pacific  R.  R.  Bulletin,  Training  Course. 

='>Natl.  Assn.  Corp.   Schools,  Bulletin,  June,   1914. 

=«Ref.  31,  p.  120. 


84  Study  op  Corporation  Schools 

This  table  shows  that  93  per  cent  of  the  graduates 
remain  with  the  company  where  their  training  was  re- 
ceived. 

These  figures  for  corporation  schools  compare  very 
favorably  with  the  following  report  of  the  persistence  in 
service  of  the  electrical  engineering  graduates  of  Purdue 
University.  This  report  covers  the  period  from  1890  to 
1915,  during  which  time  there  were  1,081  graduates  in 
electrical  engineering.  It  shows  the  present  occupation 
so  far  as  obtainable  of  all  these  graduates. ^^ 

Present  occupation                                              Number  of  men     Per  cent  of 

total 

Manufacturing 850  82.2 

Power  plants 181  12 

Railroad 66  6.1 

Communication 67  6.2 

Miscellaneous 478  48.5 

1,081  100 

The  Miscellaneous  group  is  further  subdivided  as  fol- 
lows: 

Present  occupttHo%                                             Number  of  men  Per  cent  of 

total 

Public  Service  companies 26  2.8 

Teaching 68  6.8 

Non-electric 60  6.6 

Non-engineering 100  0.2 

Miscellaneous 117  10.8 

Not  accounted  for 118  10.4 

478  100. 

If  we  may  assume  that  the  above  figures  from  cor- 
poration schools  and  from  this  technical  school  are  fairly 
representative  of  the  two  types  of  schools,  we  are  war- 
ranted in  the  conclusion  that  men  trained  in  corporation 
schools  show  a  greater  tendency  to  persist  in  the  kind 
of  work  for  which  they  were  trained  than  graduates  of 
other  technical  schools. 

"^Ewing,  D.  D.  Engineering  Education,  Lancaster  Penna.,  Feb.,  1917. 


EmciENCY  85 

5.  Reduction  in  waste  and  in  number  of  accidents 

The  fifth  end  attained  by  the  companies  which  have 
installed  training  departments  is  a  reduction  in  the  waste 
of  materials  and  a  decrease  in  a  much  more  serious  waste, 
that  of  human  health  and  human  life  as  the  result  of 
accidents. 

It  is  not  possible  to  credit  the  corporation  school  with 
all  that  has  been  accomplished  in  this  direction,  though 
company  officials  agree  that  the  corporation  school  has 
been  a  very  important  contributor  to  this  improvement. 
The  fact  that  in  many  concerns  the  welfare  work  and  the 
training  work  are  carried  on  by  the  same  department 
and  by  the  same  officials,  makes  it  quite  impossible  to  de- 
termine how  much  of  this  improvement  is  the  result  of 
the  educational  department. 

Safety  and  health  have  become  the  slogan  of  a  very 
wide-spread  propaganda,  even  more  wide-spread  than  the 
corporation-school  movement.  A  large  part  of  the  agi- 
tation for  safety  and  health  has  been  crystallized  into  the 
National  Safety  Council,  an  organization  of  nation-wide 
scope  which  has  undertaken  to  coordinate  and  unite  the 
welfare  work  which  is  now  a  part  of  practically  every 
modern  up-to-date  corporation.^^ 

* '  Fewer  accidents  and  longer  terms  of  service  invari- 
ably result  from  medical  attendance,  physical  examina- 
tions, 'safety  first'  advice,  sanitary  lunch  rooms  and 
toilet  rooms,  and  sanitary  heat  and  light. '  '29  \i  requires 
no  argument  to  show  that  whatever  makes  an  employee 
more  healthful,  more  comfortable,  and  more  intelligent 
will  make  him  a  more  profitable  worker,  will  increase 
his  term  of  service  and  will  reduce  his  number  of  acci- 
dents.2o 

One  of  the  most  fruitful  sources  of  accidents  is  the 
inability  of  foreigners  to  understand  English. 

»Ref.  84. 

*Ref.  19,  p.  684  and  800. 

»«Ref.  27,  p.  811, 


86  Study  op  Corporation  Schools 

This  fact  is  recognized  by  all  employers  of  large  num- 
bers of  foreigners,  and  the  teaching  of  ' '  English  for  For- 
eigners "^^  is  one  of  the  most  important  forms  of  corpor- 
ation school  work.  This  work  is  being  fostered  by  i^^  the 
National  Association  of  Manufacturers,33  the  National 
Association  of  Corporation  Schools,  the  National  Educa- 
tion Association,  the  North  American  Civic  League  for 
Immigrants,^*  the  Young  Men's  Christian  Association,^^ 
some  from  business  and  some  from  civic  motives. 

Typical  of  the  latter  group  of  interests  is  the  work 
of  the  United  States  Bureau  of  Education  in  the  Division 
of  Immigrant  Education.^G 

So  far  as  information  has  come  to  the  writer,  the 
unanimous  verdict  of  the  firms  conducting  this  work,  is 
that  it  tends  very  strongly  to  reduce  the  number  of  ac- 
cidents. One  company  reports^"^  a  decrease  in  3  years  of 
64  per  cent  in  the  number  of  accidents  attributable  to 
the  safety  department  and  to  the  teaching  of  English  to 
foreigners.  Other  companies  report^^  a  decrease  of  from 
60  to  80  per  cent  in  the  number  of  accidents  and  they  at- 
tribute the  improvement  to  the  same  sources. 

CONCLUSIONS 

The  data  cited  in  this  chapter  and  the  reports  from 
individual  companies  do  not,  by  any  means,  exhaust  the 
information  at  hand  or  available,  bearing  upon  the  five 
points  in  question.  These  data  have  been  selected  because 
they  are  typical  of  the  large  amount  of  evidence  which 
has  been  examined.     The  writer  believes  that  this  evi- 


"Ref.  87  . 

«Ref.   34,   pp.   515,    521,   723,   725,    747,   753;    Ref.    35;    Ref.  27,  pp. 
839-42. 

"Headquarters  No.  30  Church  St.,  New  York  City. 

"Hoadouartcrs   No.    173   State   Street,    Boston,   Muss. 

"Ref.  2,  p.  363;  Ref.  86. 

««IJ.   S.    Bureau  of   Education,   Bulletin,   Immigrant  Education. 

•'Ref.  87. 

'"•Ref.   36,   p.   33. 


EmciENCY  87 

dence  is  sufficient  to  show  that  corporation  schools  ac- 
complish the  ends  for  which  they  have  been  organized 
by  supplying  a  more  nearly  adequate  number  of 
trained  employees,  by  fitting  men  for  promotion,  by  re- 
ducing the  turn-over  of  labor,  by  improving  the  output, 
and  by  decreasing  the  number  of  accidents. 

One  of  the  important  items  in  the  argument  is  the 
fact  that  practically  no  negative  evidence  on  these  points 
has  been  found. 

The  corporation  school  stands  the  efficiency  test  which 
business  concerns  apply  to  it.  In  the  following  four 
chapters  are  given  the  results  of  the  comparison  of  cor- 
poration schools  with  public  secondary  schools  and  tech- 
nical schools. 


Study  op  Corporation  Schools 


Chapter  V 

Comparative  Efficiency  of  Corporation  Schools  as 
TO  Instruction 

In  this  chapter  are  given  the  results  of  the  compari- 
son of  the  corporation  school  with  public  secondary- 
schools  and  technical  schools  in  the  matter  of  instruction. 

This  study  had  scarcely  been  begun,  when  the  writer 
repeatedly  encountered  the  statement  that  one  of  the  main 
points  of  superiority  of  corporation  schools  over  other 
technical  schools  and  public  schools  is  a  superior  teaching 
force,  and  this  claim,  emanating  both  from  corporation- 
school  teachers  themselves  and  corporation  officials  as 
well,  has  been  kept  continuously  in  mind  as  various 
schools  of  both  types  have  been  visited. 

There  is  something  about  a  good  teacher  which  all 
recognize  as  the  distinctive  mark  of  his  ability,  yet  this 
something  is  so  intangible  as  to  elude  isolation.  Some 
call  it  personality,  some  sympathy,  and  some  intuition. 
While  we  cannot  accurately  define  it  or  isolate  it,  every 
supervisor  and  every  student  readily  recognizes  it  in  the 
true  teacher. 

In  addition  to  this  essential  personality,  a  successful 
corporation-school  teacher  should  have  had  enough  shop 
experience  to  enable  him  to  handle  any  practical  problem 
which  is  likely  to  arise.  He  must  know  more  than  the 
students  do  in  order  to  hold  their  respect.  Students  ex- 
pect a  teacher  not  only  to  know  more  than  they  them- 
selves, but  to  be  a  master  of  the  subject  he  teaches. 

In  order  to  meet  the  demand  for  well-qualified  in- 
structors several  of  the  larger  corporations  have  estab- 
lished teacher-training  courses  for  the  purpose  of  giving 
to  prospective  teachers  technical  training,  not  only  in 


Instruction  89 

class  management,  but  also  in  the  handling  of  subject- 
matter  according  to  approved  pedagogical  principles. 
This  movement  is  one  of  the  most  hopeful  signs  and  it 
cannot  fail  to  contribute  to  a  more  scientific  technique  of 
teaching.  Among  the  organizations  which  are  training 
corporation-school  teachers  are:  the  American  Steel 
Company,^  the  American  Telephone  and  Telegraph  Com- 
pany,^ the  Union  School  of  Salesmanship,  and  the  Na- 
tional Association  of  Corporation  Schools  in  cooperation 
with  the  New  York  University. 2  This  awakened  con- 
sciousness on  the  part  of  corporation  school  adminis- 
trators toward  the  technique  of  teaching  suggests  that  a 
comparison  of  the  teaching  in  corporation  schools  with 
the  teaching  in  public  secondary  schools  and  technical 
schools  may  be  valuable. 

At  the  beginning  of  this  study,  copious  notes  were 
made  on  the  teaching  observed,  but  these  were  soon  found 
to  be  inadequate  for  making  a  measurably  accurate  com- 
parison between  the  two  groups  of  schools.  The  better 
to  accomplish  this  end  a  score  card  was  needed,  adapted 
to  the  scoring  of  engineering  teaching  and  such  other  sub- 
jects as  are  usually  taught  in  corporation  schools. 

A  teacher 's  efficiency  score  card  suitable  for  scoring 
the  teaching  in  corporation  schools  should  take  into  con- 
sideration those  points  which  the  efficiency  engineer  con- 
siders in  investigating  the  efficiency  of  any  business  or 
manufacturing  concern.  Among  these  points  are  economy 
of  time,  economy  of  effort,  and  economy  of  materials. 
The  writer  has  been  permitted  to  make  an  adaptation  of 
Professor  Charles  Hughes  Johnston's  Ten-Point  Scale 
for  this  purpose.^ 

It  was  desired  to  have  a  score  card  which  should  not 
take  into  account  the  teacher's  personality  as  a  separate 

»Ref.  27,  pp.  825,  335-7. 

"New  York  University  Bulletin,  Dept.  Store  Education  Courses,  Jan. 
8,  1916. 

•Not  yet  published. 


90  Study  of  Corporation  Schools 

TEACHERS'  EFFICIENCY  SCORE   CARD 

School Lesson  Topic 

Teacher Observer 

Subject Date 

Length  of  Observation Time  of  day 


Items  Scored*   (Over)  Score|  P  |  F  [Mj  G  |  E  | 


TECHNIQUE  OF  CLASSROOM  MANAGEMENT  |      |      I      I      I      I 

1  smoothness  in  classroom  work  for  whole  period 

2  mechanical  skill  and  skillful  use  of  devices 

3  economy  of  time  and  effort 

4  good  physical  and  mental  conditions 

5  good  order,  industry, — avoiding  distractions 


IL     RECITATION   TECHNIQUE  |      |      |      |      |      | 

1  choice  of  methods — lecture,  laboratory,  quiz,  ge- 

netic, textbook,  problem,  project,  excursion 

2  memory  drill  and  reviews 

3  consideration  for  maturity  of  students 

4  use  of  local  and  illustrative  material 


III.     DEFINITENESS   OF  AIM  |      |      |      |      j 

1  logical  and  pedagogical  organization 

2  elimination  of   irrelevant  materials 
3      clarity   of  aim 

4     attainment  of  aim 


IV.     ASSIGNMENT    OF    NEXT    LESSON  |      |      |      j 

1  relating  the  present  lesson  to  the  next 

2  suggestions  of  methods  of  attack  and  study 

3  amount  of   assignment 

4  deflniteness  of  assignment. 


V.     PRACTICAL    AND    COMMON    SENSE  |      |      |      |      |      | 

1  relating  theory  to  practice 

2  consideration  of  economic  and  cost  factors 

3  prevalence  of  common  sense  judgments 
4     evidence  of  common  sense  atmosphere 

Vi~ MENTAL    DISCIPLINE  j      |      |      |  ~j      [ 

1  ability  to  realize  cause  and  effect 

2  ability  to  make  scientific  inferences 

3  ability  to  generalize  and  conceptualize 

4  ability  to  think  logically 
"vTir~RESPONSIVENESS  OF  CLASS  j      |      |     |  "j     [ 

1  effective  and  adequate  response 

2  spontaneous  response 

3  responses  from  entire  class 

4      group   cooperation   and   responsibility 

Vlfir~OLASSTATTITUDE  TOWARD  LEARNING  |      |      |      |  "j      j 

1  respect  for  the  educative  process 

2  students  blas6,  bored,  superficial,  interested 
■5      <'oni)LMnti'>n    lictw (>»>!»   toriclior    and    students 

4     sympathetic  relations  of  teacher  and  students 

IX^BREADTH  OP  VIEW  |      |      |      |      |      j 

1  use  of  source  material 

2  use  of  supplementary  materials 

3  subservience  to  textbook  or  syllabus 

4     hospitality  toward  students'   contributions 

X.     DEVELOPMENT  OF  CULTURE   "^  |      |      |      |      |      | 

1  good  form,  voice  and  language  in  classroom 

2  appreciation   of   thoroughness  of  knowledge 
8     refinement  in  manner,  speech  and  thought 

4     appreciation  of  form  vs.  mere  knowledge 


Instruction  91 

item  to  be  scored,  not  that  personality*  is  an  unimportant 
factor  in  any  teacher's  success,  but  it  has  seemed  prefer- 
able so  to  organize  the  score  card  to  be  used  that  the  scor- 
ing of  the  items  in  it,  will  take  into  account,  the  teacher's 
personality  as  it  affects  the  item  in  question. 

On  the  preceding  page  is  shown  the  writer's  adapta- 
tion of  Professor  Johnston's  Ten-Point  Scale. 

The  back  of  the  Score  Card  is  reproduced  below : 

TEACHERS'    EFFICIENCY    SCORE    CARD 
Explanations  and  directions  for  scoring  a  teacher's  classroom  efficiency. 
Read  these  instructions  carefully. 

1.  The  aim  of  this  score  card  is  to  enable  teachers  and  supervisors 
to  cooperate  intelligently  in  improving  teaching  by  scoring  important  items 
in  the  process. 

2.  Use  the  subtopics  as  the  basis  of  your  judgment,  but  score  main 
points  only.  The  naming  of  specific  subtopics  need  not  prevent  the  con- 
sideration of  others  not  named  but  presumably  equally  important. 

3.  Score  points  as  they  come  in  evidence,  not  necessarily  in  the  order 
printed. 

4.  Do  not  score  any  point  upon  which  there  is  insufficient  evidence. 

5.  The  observer  should  focus  attention  not  upon  teacher,  or  upon 
pupils  in  isolation  but  upon  the  entire  cooperative  classroom  activity,  and 
should  also  keep  in  mind  the  factors  over  which  the  teacher  has  no  con- 
trol, such  as  former  classroom  practice  and  local  school  and  community 
prejudices.  This  suggestion  applies  specially  to  items,  I,  II,  VII,  VIII, 
and  X. 

6.  The  observer  and  the  teacher  should  have  a  thorough  understand- 
ing of  the  score  card  and  its  purpose  before  a  class  is  visited,  and  no  final 
judgment  should  be  formed  until  at  least  three  different  scores  have  been 
made.  If  possible  these  visits  should  include  the  time  when  some  definite 
larger  unit  of  instruction  is  being  developed.  A  visit  should  include  at 
least  half  of  a  recitation  period  and  should  include  either  the  beginning 
or  the  end  of  the  period. 

7.  The  rankings:  P.  F.  M.  G.  and  E.  may  be  understood  to  repre- 
sent approximately  equal  steps  between  the  poorest  teaching  likely  to  be 
found  and  the  best  possible — say,  roughly  equivalent  to  rankings  of  1,  3,  5, 
7,  9,  plus  or  minus  on  a  scale  of  ten. 


*School  Review  Monograph.     No.  VI. 


92  Study  of  Corporation  Schools 

The  score  card  is  not  a  grading  card  nor  a  measuring- 
stick  or  scale.  The  fundamental  element  of  a  scale  is  a 
series  of  approximately  equal  steps  between  a  lower  point 
of  zero  and  an  upper  point  of  approximate  perfection. 
No  such  claim  is  made  for  this  score  card,  nor  is  it  as- 
sumed that  the  ten  items  of  this  score  card  are  of  even 
approximately  equal  importance.  They  are  all  im- 
portant, but  no  attempt  has  been  made  to  establish  a  rank- 
order  nor  any  weighting  of  the  ten  items. 

The  line  drawn  through  the  scores  entered  for  the  va- 
rious items  therefore  cannot  in  any  sense  be  considered 
the  graph  of  an  equation  representing  a  relation  between 
the  various  items  for  there  are  no  scaled  coordinates  and 
no  coordinate  axes. 

Each  of  the  ten  items  of  the  score  card  is  subdivided 
into  sub-topics,  though  it  is  not  intended  that  each  of 
these  sub-topics  shall  be  scored  separately;  they  are 
given  simply  as  indicative  of  what  the  observer  ought  to 
look  for,  and  these  items  are  not  intended  to  preclude 
the  consideration  of  others  not  mentioned  but  pertinent 
and  equally  important. 

In  order  to  facilitate  the  use  of  the  Teachers'  Effi- 
ciency Score  Card,  and  further,  in  order  fully  to  ac- 
quaint any  who  may  find  occasion  to  use  it  in  the  scoring 
of  teaching,  with  the  import  of  the  various  items,  the  fol- 
lowing fuller  discussion  of  the  ten  items  is  presented: 

1.  TECHNIQUE  OF  CLASSROOM  MANAGE- 
MENT involves  the  more  or  less  mechanical  phases  of 
the  entire  classroom  procedure,  including  mechanical 
skill  in  the  selection  of,  and  in  the  adjustment  and  use  of 
classroom  devices,  such  as  maps,  globes,  apparatus,  and 
machinery ;  skill  in  securing  economy  of  time  and  effort 
in  making  assignments,  in  taking  the  class  roll,  in  pass- 
ing to  and  from  seats;  maintaining  good  physical  con- 
ditions as  to  temperature,  ventilation,  and  humidity; 


Instruction  93 

and  good  order,  a  spirit  of  industry,  and  freedom  from 
distractions. 

2.  RECITATION  TECHNIQUE  involves :  the  means 
and  methods  employed  in  making  the  real  vital  contact 
between  the  students  and  the  subject  matter ;  the  adapta- 
tion of  the  methods  and  materials  to  the  maturity  of 
the  students;  skill  in  the  use  of  illustrative  materials; 
and  a  proper  emphasis  upon  reviews  and  drills. 

3.  DEFINITENESS  OF  AIM  involves:  considera- 
tion for  proper  logical  and  pedagogical  presentation  of 
materials ;  an  emphasis  upon  essential  points ;  the  subor- 
dination of  irrelevant  matter  so  as  to  make  the  central 
aim  of  the  recitation  clear,  and  its  attainment  certain. 

4.  ASSIGNMENT  OF  LESSONS  requires :  a  reason- 
able and  a  definite  assignment ;  a  proper  relating  of  the 
present  lesson  to  the  next  and  suggestion  of  methods  of 
attacking  and  of  studying  the  new  lesson. 

5.  PRACTICAL  AND  COMMON  SENSE  in  a  class- 
room is  evidenced :  by  a  due  relating  of  theory  to  practice ; 
by  a  due  consideration  for  economic  and  cost  factors 
wherever  these  factors  are  present;  by  a  prevalence  of 
common  sense  judgments;  and  by  a  common  sense  at- 
mosphere, 

6.  MENTAL  DISCIPLINE  is  evidenced  in  part  by 
the  ability ;  to  realize  cause  and  effect ;  to  make  scientific 
inferences ;  to  make  proper  generalizations,  and  to  form 
right  concepts ;  and  to  think  logically. 

7.  RESPONSIVENESS  OF  CLASS  is  evidence  of 
good  instruction,  in  proportion  as  responses  are  effective, 
adequate,  spontaneous  and  general;  and  to  the  degree 
that  there  is  present  a  group  cooperation  and  a  sense  of 
group  responsibility. 

8.  CLASS  ATTITUDE  TOWARD  LEARNING  is 
evidenced  by  the  extent  to  which  there  is  present  a  respect 
for  the  educative  process ;  a  blase,  bored,  superficial,  or 
interested  attitude  on  the  part  of  students ;  and  a  helpful 


94  Study  of  Corporation  Schools 

cooperative  and  sympathetic  relation  between  teacher  and 
pupils.  ' 

9.  BREADTH  OF  VIEW  is  evidenced  by  the  use  of 
source  and  supplementary  materials,  by  freedom  from 
subservience  to  textbooks  and  syllabi,  and  by  the  consid- 
eration given  to  pupils'  opinions  and  contributions. 

10.  DEVELOPMENT  OF  CULTURE  is  evidenced 
by  the  presence  of  good  form,  good  voice,  and  language ; 
by  appreciation  shown  for  thoroughness  of  knowledge; 
by  refinement  in  manner,  speech,  and  thought ;  and  by 
appreciation  of  good  form  rather  than  knowledge. 

Some  of  these  items  are  in  evidence  in  practically 
every  classroom  recitation,  while  others  are  frequently 
lacking.  Some  are  easy  to  score,  while  others  are  rather 
intangible.  Those  relatively  easy  to  score  are  Items  I,  II, 
III,  IV  and  VII,  while  under  the  latter  category  fall 
Items  V,  VI,  VIII,  IX,  and  X.  The  importance  of  these 
more  elusive  outcomes  will  scarcely  be  questioned  but 
evidence  of  their  presence  is  sometimes  difficult  to  detect. 
The  suggestion  is  made  in  the  instructions  for  scoring 
that  no  score  be  made  for  any  item  in  case  of  insufficient 
evidence.  It  may  frequently  happen  too,  that  such  items 
as  the  ' '  Assignment  of  Lesson ' ',  which!  is  relatively  easy 
to  score  may  not  be  in  evidence  at  all,  owing  to  the  fact 
that  the  assignment  may  have  been  made  in  advance.  In 
such  a  case  the  proper  procedure  is  not  to  score  that 
item. 

Shortly  after  the  beginning  of  this  study,  the  faculty 
of  the  Department  of  Civil  Engineering  of  the  University 
of  Illinois  became  interested  in  the  pedagogical  phase  of 
engineering  teaching  to  the  extent  that  the  writer  was 
invited  to  make  a  survey  of  their  teaching.  In  compliance 
with  this  request  the  writer  made  systematic  visitations 
to  the  classes  of  the  department  during  the  months  of 
November  and  December,  1916. . 

This  invitation  afforded  the  desired  opportunity  of 


Instruction  95 

making  a  systematic  comparison  of  the  teaching  of  cor- 
poration schools  with  that  of  a  public  technical  school, 
and  hastened  the  completion  of  the  Teachers'  Efficiency 
Score  Card  described  above. 

According  to  Rule  6  for  the  use  of  the  score  card,  a 
thorough  understanding  was  reached  with  the  instructors 
as  to  the  purpose  and  the  process  of  the  scoring,  and  each 
instructor's  classes,  as  far  as  possible,  were  visited  at 
least  three  times.  In  order  not  to  prejudice  later  scoring, 
as  soon  as  a  score  was  made,  it  was  put  aside  and  not  re- 
ferred to  again  until  all  the  scoring  was  completed.  After 
three  scores  had  been  made  for  each  instructor  in  the  de- 
partment, an  average  score  was  made  for  each  instructor 
by  taking  a  mean  of  the  three  rankings  in  each  of  the 
ten  items. 

The  averaging  of  the  several  scores  for  an  instructor 
was  done  by  the  ordinary  arithmetical  process,  giving  the 
various  scores,  instead  of  the  letters  the  arithmetical  val- 
ues :  1,  3,  5,  7,  and  9  suggested  in  Rule  7,  on  the  back 
of  the  card.  In  the  same  manner  the  average  score  on 
any  one  item  for  all  the  instructors  in  the  department 
was  obtained. 

By  treating  each  item  in  the  same  manner  and  by 
drawing  a  line  through  these  mean  scores  on  the  various 
items,  each  instructor's  average  ''graph"  was  obtained; 
and  by  a  similar  averaging  of  all  ten  scores  for  the  sev- 
eral instructors,  the  department  average  on  all  the  ten 
items  was  obtained. 

After  all  the  scoring  was  done  and  the  average 
''graphs"  were  drawn,  a  report  was  submitted  to  the 
faculty  of  the  department  at  their  weekly  conference  and 
the  value  of  the  survey  and  the  scoring  was  freely  dis- 
cussed. The  writer  maintained  for  the  individual  average 
scores,  and  for  the  department  average  scores,  that  they 
were  diagnostic  only.  He  did  not  hold  that  they  measured 
on  a  per  cent  scale,  the  exact  amount  of  any  item,  but 


96  Study  of  Corporation  Schools 

he  did  maintain  that  each  instructor  *s  average  score  was 
a  fairly  accurate  diagnosis  of  that  instructor's  classroom 
efficiency.  He  further  maintained  that  the  low  point  on 
the  department  average  score — Responsiveness  of  Class, 
— ^was  the  real  low  point  in  the  instruction  in  the  depart- 
ment. This  conclusion  the  writer  believes  agrees  substan- 
tially with  the  combined  judgment  of  the  faculty  of  the 
department. 

Thus  the  writer,  whose  knowledge  of  civil  engineering 
is  limited  to  mathematical  theory,  but  who  has  given  a 
good  deal  of  attention  to  the  technique  of  teaching  and  of 
classroom  management,  has  been  able  by  means  of  the 
Teachers'  Efficiency  Score  Card,  to  diagnose  with  a  fair 
degree  of  precision  the  instruction  of  the  department. 
The  usefulness  and  reliability  of  the  score  card  has  been 
further  tested  by  the  aid  of  six  graduate  students  of  the 
University  of  Illinois.  These  students  cooperated  with 
the  writer  in  scoring,  each  quite  independently,  the  same 
recitation.  Five  separate  recitations  were  scored  in  dif- 
ferent departments  of  the  University  of  Illinois.  These 
scores  are  tabulated  below : 

TABLE  TV. 


1. 

Items 
Student  A. 
Student  B. 

I 
7 
7 

II 
9 
9 

III 
6 

7 

IV 
7 
5 

V 
7 
7 

VI 

5 

8 

VII 

1 
8 

vni 

6 

IX 
7 
7 

X 

s 

0 

0 

1 

1 

0 

1 

1 

- 

0 

- 

2. 

Items 
student  A. 
Student  C. 

I 
8 
8 

II 
8 

7 

III 
8 
8 

IV 

1 
1 

V 
8 

VI 
8 
9 

VII 
5 
9 

VIII 
7 
9 

IX 
6 

1 

X 
8 

7 

0 

2 

0 

0 

- 

8 

2 

1 

2 

2 

8. 

Items 
Student  A. 
Student  B. 

I 
7 
0 

II 
9 
9 

III 
7 
7 

IV 

V 
7 
9 

VI 
7 
7 

VII 
6 
9 

VIII 
7 
9 

IX 
7 
9 

X 
7 
7 

1 

0 

0 

- 

1 

0 

2 

1 

1 

0 

4. 

Items 
Student  A. 
Student  D. 

I 
7 
5 

II 

7 
7 

III 
5 
6 

IV 
8 

1 

V 
7 
6 

VI 

5 

8 

VII 
8 

7 

VIII 
7 
7 

IX 
9 
7 

X 
t 

1 


Instruction  97 

6.         Items  I        II       III      IV       V        VI     VII    VIII     IX       X 

student  A.  9975-58397 

Student  B.  9976758         875 

Student  E.  9995975797 


In  summarizing  these  scores  *  *  0 "  indicates  a  perfect 
agreement  between  observers  on  that  item;  ''!"  indi- 
cates a  displacement  (disagreement)  of  one  step  on  the 
score  card,  the  steps  being  1-3-5-7-9;  *'2''  indicates  a 
displacement  of  two  steps.  '  *  Displacement ' '  may  be  read 
as  the  difference  between  the  highest  and  the  lowest  score 
on  any  item. 

In  cases  where  the  observer  made  no  entry  for  any 
item,  it  has  seemed  best  to  take  no  account  of  that  item 
rather  than  to  call  the  blank  a  score  of  zero,  which  would 
be  obviously  misleading.     (See  Rule  4.) 

In  the  five  scores  there  are  therefore,  out  of  a  possible 
fifty,  in  each  of  the  following  cases : 

(a)  17  exact  agreement  of  the  observers, 

(b)  38  displacements  of  one  step  or  less,  counting 

^'O's'^ 

(c)  7  displacements  of  two  steps,  and  only 

(d)  1  displacement  of  more  than  two  steps. 

In  the  case  of  '*a",  if  the  number  of  observers  had 
been  taken  into  account  instead  of  the  number  of 
items,  the  number  of  exact  agreements  is  shown  to  be  29, 
out  of  a  possible  70,  which  makes  an  even  stronger  show- 
ing, the  ratios  being  29/70  or  41.4  per  cent  against  17/50 
or  29.4  per  cent  by  the  former  method. 

The  agreement  of  these  results  of  the  scoring  of  the 
same  classroom  exercise  by  different  observers  confirms 
the  belief  that  the  Teachers'  Efficiency  Score  Card  is  a 
valuable  aid  in  focusing  attention  upon  the  essential 
points  of  good  classroom  procedure  and  in  scoring  that 
procedure. 

The  usefulness  of  the  score  card  depends  largely  upon 
two  factors:    first,  a  reasonably  accurate  knowledge  of 


96  Study  or  Corporation  Schools 

what  is  meant  by  the  ten  items  of  the  score  card ;  and  sec- 
ond, a  sufficient  knowledge  of  correct  classroom  procedure 
to  recognize  its  presence  or  absence  as  shown  by  these 
items  and  to  judge  its  quality. 

The  judging  and  scoring  of  these  items  was  not  an  easy 
matter.  The  writer  usually  proceeded  by  checking  either 
with  '*  +  "  or  "  — "  the  various  sub-topics  as  they  came 
into  evidence  to  indicate  either  **good"  or  **bad'^  on  that 
point ;  and  frequently  by  notations  in  case  any  topic  was 
conspicuously  present  or  absent,  or  in  case  of  other  points 
not  mentioned  in  the  card  but  pertinent  and  im- 
portant. The  purpose  of  this  procedure  was  to  develop 
a  general  idea  of  the  extent  to  which  the  items  were  in 
evidence.  The  decision  as  to  whether  any  item  should  be 
scored  P,  F,  M,  G,  or  E  was  determined  in  the  following 
manner:  if  an  item  was  in  evidence  in  such  a  manner 
that  it  represented  undoubtedly  very  bad  practice,  or  an 
evident  ignorance  of,  or  disregard  for  good  procedure, 
that  item  has  been  scored  either  ^'P''  or  **F''  according 
to  the  degree  of  badness ;  if  an  item  was  in  evidence  in 
such  a  manner  as  to  show  that  good  practice  in  that  par- 
ticular was  carefully  considered  or  habitual,  that  item 
was  scored  either  **E''  or  **G''  according  to  the  degree 
of  excellence ;  if  the  item  in  question  was  in  evidence  in 
such  a  manner  as  would  likely  to  be  most  commonly  ob- 
served, it  was  scored  "M". 

In  pursuing  this  study  of  corporation  schools  the 
Teachers'  Efficiency  Score  Card  has  been  used  to  com- 
pare the  efficiency  of  the  instruction  observed  in  these 
schools  with  that  observed  in  public  secondary  schools 
and  technical  schools.  The  scoring  of  corporation  schools 
and  of  public  and  private  schools  has  necessarily  not  been 
done  with  such  a  degree  of  intensiveness  as  was  possible 
in  the  civil  engineering  department  of  the  University 
of  Illinois.  This  is  due  to  the  fact  that  it  has  seldom 
been  practicable  to  remain  in  any  one  school  longer  than 


Instruction 


99 


a  half  day,  and  in  but  few  cases  has  it  been  possible  to 
make  duplicate  scores  for  individual  instructors.  There 
is  therefore  a  greater  probability  of  error  in  the  scores 
of  corporation  school  teachers  than  in  those  described 
above.  Table  V  shows  the  scores  of  18  instructors  in 
eight  different  corporation  schools.^ 


TABLE    V. 

Items 

I 

II         III 

— iv~ 

V 

VI 

VII 

VIII 

IX 

X 

Teacher     1, 

7 

5            7 

5 

5 

5 

3 

3 

3 

5 

2. 

3 

5            5 

5 

7 

3 

5 

3 

3 

3 

3. 

5 

5            7 

— 

7 

5 

5 

5 

3 

— 

4. 

5 

7            7 

— 

9 

7 

7 

7 

3 

3 

5. 

5 

7            5 

— 

5 

5 

7 

5 

1 

3 

6. 

1 

3            3 

3 

7 

5 

3 

5 

7 

5 

7.*  8 

7            6 

5 

8 

5 

4 

6 

6 

5 

8. 

7 

5            7 

_ 

3 

8 

7 

5 

1 

1 

9. 

5 

3            3 

_ 

5 

3 

1 

3 

3 

•,                10. 

3 

7            7 

— 

5 

5 

5 

3 

3 

3 

11. 

5 

7            7 

_ 

5 

7 

7 

3 

3 

12. 

5 

7           5 

3 

7 

_ 

3 

7 

3 

3 

13. 

7 

7            7 

7 

7 

5 

7 

5 

3 

14. 

7 

5            7 

- 

7 

3 

7 

7 

3 

3 

15. 

7 

7            7 

3 

5 

— 

7 

7 

— 

— 

16. 

3 

7           5 

— 

5 

5 

5 

7 

3 

3 

17. 

5 

7            5 

5 

5 

5 

3 

7 

3 

3 

18. 

3 

7           7 

5 

5 

5 
5. 

7 
5. 

7 
5. 

7 
3.5 

8 

Averages 

5. 

6.          5.9 

3.8 

6. 

8.3 

♦(average  of  two  scores) 

Table  VI  shows  34  scores  of  21  different  teachei*s  in 
7  public  secondary  schools  and  technical  schools.^  The 
first  23  scores  are  those  made  by  11  instructors  in  the  De- 
partment of  Civil  Engineering  of  the  University  of  Illi- 


nois, which  are  discussed  above. 


^Schools  of  the  following  companies:  Marshall  Field  and  Co.,  Packard 
Motor  Co.,  R.  R.  Donnelly  Printing  Co.,  J.  L.  Hudson  Department  Store, 
Ford  Motor  Co.,  Western  Electric  Co.,  Swift  and  Co.  and  Central  Stations 
Institute. 

^A  total  of  39  scores  were  made  but  4  of  these  were  made  in  mixed 
»nd  secondary  classes  in  the  Gary  Schools,  and  one  was  discarded  on  ac- 
count of  extraordinary  conditions  under  which  it  was  made.  These  schools 
include  two  departments  of  the  Engineering  College  of  the  University  of 
Illinois;  two  departments  of  Bradley  Institute  at  Peoria,  111.,  and  the  High 
Schools  at  Springfield,  111.,  Detroit,  Mich.,  (Cass  Tech).,  and  the  Froebel 
School  at  Gary,  Ind. 


100 


Study  of  Corporation  Schools 


TABLE    VI. 

Items 

I 

II 

Ill 

IV 

V 

VI 

vn 

vni 

IX 

X 

Twcher    1. 

7 

5 

3 

7 

5 

6 

8 

9 

7 

7 

5 

7 

~ 

7 

5 

8 

9 

— 

2. 

7 

7 

7 

_ 

7 

5 

7 

7 

7 

i 

7 

7 

9 

7 

5 

5 

7 

5 

— 

3. 

5 

7 

5 

7 

5 

5 

5 

6 

6 

i 

5 

9 

7 

9 

5 

6 

8 

7 

6 

4. 

7 

7 

7 

7 

6 

5 

7 

7 

6 

f 

7 

7 

9 

7 

7 

5 

6 

7 

— 

5. 

7 

7 

7 

_ 

7 

5 

5 

7 

7 

5 

7 

5 

5 

7 

_ 

9 

7 

6. 

7 

7 

9 

5 

5 

6 

7 

7 

7 

5 

7 

— 

7 

6 

8 

7 

7 

3 

3 

8 

5 

5 

5 

8 

7 

7. 

5 

7 

7 

— 

6 

6 

7 

7 

— 

5 

5 

7 

5 

6 

6 

5 

6 

7 

7 

5 

7 

6 

6 

8 

5 

_ 

8. 

3 

8 

7 

— 

7 

6 

1 

7 

6 

9. 

3 

5 

5 

— 

5 

5 

8 

7 

— 

7 

5 

7 

8 

7 

5 

3 

6 

_ 

10. 

8 

5 

5 

8 

5 

5 

5 

5 

8 

8 

7 

9 

— 

7 

7 

6 

6 

~ 

11. 

7 

6 

7 

_ 

7 

5 

8 

6 

. 

9 

7 

9 

- 

7 

7 

7 

8 

8 

0.  B.  Teach 

. 

ers'  Av. 

6. 

6. 

6.7 

5.7 

6. 

5.+ 

4.6 

5.5 

6.1 

6.- 

Teacher  12. 

3 

7 

5 

8 

8 

8 

8 

8 

8 

13. 

5 

3 

7 

— 

7 

~ 

6 

7 

. 

U. 

9 

7 

6 

— 

7 

8 

8 

— 

— 

15. 

9 

9 

9 

— 

9 

6 

5 

7 

_ 

16. 

7 

5 

5 

_ 

9 

6 

6 

9 

— 

17. 

7 

8 

6 

— 

8 

8 

1 

8 

18. 

7 

9 

9 

_ 

7 

5 

.5 

_ 

_ 

18. 

7 

3 

7 

8 

7 

7 

1 

. 

. 

19. 

7 

8 

3 

5 

3 

1 

6 

~ 

8 

20. 

5 

7 

7 

6 

6 

6 

3 

8 

8 

. 

ai. 

5 

7 

- 

- 

5 

- 

7 

- 

7 

- 

Average  21 

Teachers 

6.1 

6.9 

6.6 

6.8 

6. 

4.9 

4.8 

6.6 

6.1 

6.8 

Corporations  School  Teachers'  Ayerages 

TABLE   V 

6. 

6. 

6.9 

8.8 

6. 

6. 

6. 

6. 

8.6 

8.8 

The  "graphs"  of  these  two  sets  of  averages  are  shown 
in  Table  VII.  The  average  score  of  the  public  secondary 
school  and  technical  school  teachers  is  shown  by  the  solid 
line,  and  that  of  corporation  school  teachers  by  the  dotted 
line. 


Instruction  \  o 


101 


TABLE   VII. 
TEACHERS'   EFFICIENCY  SCORE  CARD 


Items  Scored*      (Over) 


I.  TECHNIQUE  OP  CLASSROOM  MANAGEMENT 
1.  smoothness  in  class  work  for  whole  period 

2  mechanical  skill  and  skillful  use  of  devices 

3  economy  of  time  and  effort 

4  good  physical  and  mental  conditions 

5  good  order,  industry, — avoiding  distractions 
ilT^ECITATION  TECHNIQUE 

1  choice    of    method — lecture,    laboratory,    quiz, 
genetic,  textbook,  problem,  project,  excursion 

2  memory  drill  and  reviews 

3  consideration  for  maturity  of  students 

4  use  of  local  and  illustrative  material 


III.   DEFINITENESS  OF  AIM 

1  logical  and  pedagogical  organization 

2  elimination  of  irrelevant  materials 

3  clarity  of  aim 

4  attainment  of  aim 


IV.  ASSIGNMENT  OF  NEXT  LESSON 

1  relating  the  present  lesson  to  the  next 

2  suggestions  of  method  of  attack  and  study 

3  amount  of  assignment 

4  definiteness  of  assignment 


V.   PRACTICAL  AN^)  COMMON  SENSE 

1  relating  theory  to  practice 

2  consideration  of  economic  and  cost  factors 

3  prevalence  of  common  sense  judgments 

4  evidence  of  common  sense  atmosphere 


VI.  MENTAL  DISCIPLINE 

1  ability  to  realize  cause  and  effect 

2  ability  to  make  scientific  inferences 

3  ability  to  generalize  and  conceptualize 

4  ability  to  think  logically 


VII.   RESPONSIVENESS  OP  CLASS 

1  effective  and  adequate  response 

2  spontaneous  response 

3  responses  from  entire  class 

4  group  cooperation  and  responsibility 


VIII.  CLASS  ATTITUDE  TOWARD  LEARNING 

1  respect  for  the  educative  process 

2  students  blase,   bored,  superficial,  interested 

3  cooperation  between  teacher  and  students 

4  sympathetic  relations  of  teacher  and  students 


IX.  BREADTH  OP  VIEW. 

1  use  of  source  materials 

2  use  of  supplementary  materials 

3  subservience  to  textbook  or  syllabus 

4  hospitality  toward  students'   contributions 


X.  DEVELOPMENT  OF  CULTURE 

1  good  form,  voice  and  language  in  classroom 

2  appreciation  of  thoroughness  of  knowledge 

3  refinement  in  manner,  speech  and  thought 

4  appreciation  of  form  vs.  mere  knowledge 


"P      r     /Vl       Or.      E 


IS. 


Bf 


YC 


m 


YSL 


IX 


y- 


102  Study  op  Corporation  Schools 

In  order  to  determine  whether  dependence  can  be 
placed  upon  these  averages,  the  probable  errors  have  been 
computed  by  the  Pearson  formula.^  In  no  case  is  the 
probable  error  more  than  .33  and  in  no  case  less  than 
.20.  From  a  statistical  standpoint,  therefore,  the  writer 
bases  no  conclusions  upon  these  averages  except  such  as 
differ  by  more  than  .66  or  twice  the  largest  probable 
error.  This  exception  applies  to  Items  I,  III,  IV,  VII, 
IX,  and  X. 

Conclusions 

The  evidence  of  Tables  V  and  VI  counting  only  these 
items,  warrants  the  conclusion  that  the  teaching  in  pub- 
lic secondary  schools  and  technical  schools  is  superior 
to  the  teaching  in  corporation  schools  in  Classroom  Man- 
agement, Definiteness  of  Aim,  Assignment  of  Lessons, 
Breadth  of  View,  and  Development  of  Culture ;  and  that 
corporation  school  teaching  is  superior  in  Responsive- 
ness of  Class.  The  averages  for  the  corporation  schools 
are  slightly  larger,  too,  in  Recitation  Technique  and  in 
Mental  Discipline,  though  the  differences  are  too  small 
to  be  statistically  significant. 

The  conclusions  derived  from  the  scoring  of  the  teach- 
ing observed  agrees  substantially  with  the  opinion  which 
the  writer  has  formed  while  visiting  these  schools,  except 
on  two  points.  The  writer  believes  that  the  teaching  in 
public  secondary  schools  and  technical  schools  is  superior 
to  that  in  corporation  schools  in  Recitation  Technique, 
and  that  the  Class  Attitude  Toward  Learning  in  corpora- 
tion schools  is  better  than  that  in  the  other  group  of 
schools. 

The  first  four  points  of  the  score  card  are  presumably 
those  in  which  professional  training  would  function.  They 


Thorndike,  E.  L.     Mental  and  Social  Meamrementt,  p.  188. 


Instruction  103 

are  the  items  which  are  emphasized  in  the  training  of 
teachers.  In  three  of  these  four  items,  the  teaching  in 
public  secondary  schools  and  technical  schools  shows 
superiority  over  that  in  corporation  schools.  In  this  con- 
dition, the  writer  finds  a  further  warrant  for  a  compari- 
son of  the  methods  of  teaching  in  these  two  groups  of 
schools  in  the  next  chapter. 


104  Study  of  Corporation  Schools 


'  Chapter  VI. 

Comparative  Efficiency  of  Corporation  Schools  as 
TO  Motivation  of  Work 

In  the  inanimate  world  there  is  no  possibility  of  mo- 
tion except  as  the  result  of  some  impelling  force.  In  the 
animate  world  also,  it  is  impossible  to  conceive  of  any 
motion  or  activity  except  as  the  result  of  some  causal  or 
motive  force.  In  the  physical  world,  force  is  defined  in 
terms  of  its  effect, — motion,  and  in  the  realm  of  the 
animate  and  the  intelligent,  a  motive  is  defined  as  that 
situation  which  tends  to  produce  activity.  In  discussing 
intelligent  activity,  the  terms,  motive  and  incentive,  are 
usually  treated  as  synonymous,  or  at  least,  very  closely 
related.  The  selection  and  the  application  of  motives  in 
school  work  has  given  rise  to  a  comparatively  new  word 
in  pedagogical  parlance,  *  *  motivation. ' '  Motivation  has 
to  do  with  the  bringing  to  bear  upon  a  pupil,  such  mo- 
tives and  incentives  as  will  secure  the  desired  activity,  or 
produce  an  adequate  reaction,  and  secure  a  proper  atti- 
tude on  the  part  of  the  pupil  toward  the  work  in  hand.^ 

Professor  John  Dewey  says,^  *'An  educational  aim 
must  be  founded  upon  the  intrinsic  activities  and  needs 
of  the  individual  to  be  educated".  ''Education",  he 
says,  *  *  is  that  reorganization  of  experience  which  adds 
to  the  meaning  of  experience  and  which  increases  the 
ability  to  direct  the  course  of  subsequent  experience." 
The  best  experience  for  any  individual  depends  upon  the 
intrinsio  activities  and  needs  of  that  individual,  and  the 
motives  which  will  best  produce  these  intrinsic  activities 
and  supply  these  needs  will  be  the  best  motives  for  that 
individual. 


>Bef.  40.  p.  128. 
>Ref.  40,  p.  89. 


Motivation  op  Work  105 

Return  again  to  the  figures  of  the  physical  world. 
The  development,  the  conservation,  and  the  application 
of  power  constitute  the  chief  function  of  the  efficiency 
engineer.  The  educational  realm  presents  an  analogous 
situation.  The  task  of  the  teacher  is  the  selection  and 
right  employment  of  incentives  and  motives.  The  needs 
of  the  pupil  are  important  factors  in  determining  which 
motives  will  be  the  most  efficient  in  any  case. 

Efficiency  here  is  used  in  its  technical  sense,  as  the 
ratio  between  motive  power  and  resulting  activity.  As 
stated  above,  that  motive  will  be  most  powerful,  and 
therefore  most  effective,  which  grows  out  of  the  felt  needs 
of  the  pupil. 

Professor  Dewey  formulates  this  theory^  into  what 
is  called  the  problem  situation.  ''A  problem  is  that 
situation  which  arouses  thinking  and  suggests  something 
to  do  with  something  new,  to  relate  it  properly  with 
former  experience."  This  ''something  to  do"  is  an  out- 
come which  the  pupil  feels  is  worth  while.  His  interest 
in  the  problem  is  this  feeling  of  its  worthwhileness,  and 
this  feeling  of  worthwhileness  in  a  situation  and  its  out- 
come is  interest.^ 

Some  writers  measure  the  value  of  any  school  activity 
by  the  degree  of  interest  which  the  pupil  has  in  that 
activity.  The  fallacy  here,  grows  out  of  the  fact  that  in- 
terests originate  in  wants  fully  as  frequently  as  in  needs. 
Hence  many  interests  do  not  contribute  to  the  real  ends 
of  education.  Their  value  all  depends  upon  whether  they 
originate  in  mere  wants  or  in  real  needs.  For  example : 
a  student  may  become  so  interested  in  athletics  or  in 
social  pleasures  as  seriously  to  interfere  with  his  studies 
and  his  real  needs ;  a  man  may  become  so  interested  in 
satisfying  his  uncontrolled  intemperate  appetite  as 
wholly  to  neglect  his  business  and  his  family ;  a  boy  may 

»Ref.  40,  pp.  181-182. 

«Bef.  40,  p.  147;  Bef.  45,  10. 


106  Study  op  Corporation  Schools 

become  so  interested  in  his  play  as  to  be  quite  oblivious 
to  his  duty  to  perform  some  useful  task.  Interest,  intense 
interest,  is  unquestionably  present  in  all  these  cases  but 
interest  which  grows  out  of  wants  or  perverted  needs, — 
felt  needs  perhaps — ^but  not  real  needs. 

Mr.  H.  B.  Wilson  says,^  ''Why  not  substitute  for  rou- 
tine schoolroom  practices,  self  imposed  tasks  which  the 
pupil  is  vitally  interested  in  successfully  completing?*' 

There  are  several  reasons  why  this  cannot  always  be 
done :  first,  it  is  not  at  all  certain  that  there  is  anything 
better  to  substitute ;  second,  many  of  the  pupils  who  con- 
stitute the  teacher 's  ' '  problem ' '  are  not  vitally  interested 
in  anything  that  the  school  can  indorse  or  sanction ;  third, 
many  pupils  are  so  transitory  in  their  interests  that  they 
seldom,  if  ever,  complete  any  task  unless  under  compul- 
sion; fourth,  many  of  the  self-imposed  tasks  are  not 
worthwhile,  so  far  as  being  contributions  to  the  ultimate 
efficiency  of  the  pupil ;  fifth,  the  great  differences  in  the 
interests  of  pupils  and  the  resulting  great  variety  of 
"worthwhile  self-imposed  tasks"  would  so  disorganize 
classes  as  to  make  class  teaching  practically  impossible ; 
and  sixth,  in  order  to  develop  adequate  social  efficiency, 
many  real  needs  must  be  considered  by  the  teacher  which 
do  not  have  in  them  a  felt  appeal  to  the  pupil.  These  real 
needs  must  have  attention  at  a  time  determined  by  the 
pupil 's  psychological  development,  and  by  social  require- 
ments, fully  as  much  as  by  the  pupil's  feeling  in  the 
matter. 

Habit  formation  frequently  comes  under  this  cate- 
gory.^ Habits  are  a  valuable  part  of  one's  efficiency- 
equipment,  and  many  habits,  in  order  to  be  effectively 
mastered,  must  be  acquired  during  early  childhood. 
Young  children  do  not  appreciate  the  importance  of 
habits,  and  older  ones  seldom  place  a  proper  value  upon 

•Ref.  45.  p.  10. 
•Ref.  41. 


Motivation  of  Work  107 

them  until  the  time  for  their  easiest  mastery  has  past, 
80  that  the  fixing  of  proper  habits  cannot  be,  to  any 
great  extent,  self  imposed  tasks,  or  tasks  in  the  successful 
<?ompletion  of  which  the  pupil  is  vitally  interested.  The 
mastery  of  the  multiplication  tables,  correct  spelling, 
promptness,  regularity  in  eating,  cleanliness  of  person, 
and  good  manners  are  illustrations  of  important  habits 
which  usually  become  fixed  only  through  the  use  of  ex- 
traneous incentives. 

Professor  Dewey^  has  set  forth  the  value  of  interest 
as  a  motive  to  effort  in  school  work.  There  is  no  dispo- 
sition to  question  the  validity  of  his  argument,  so  far  as 
the  value  of  interest  is  concerned,  but  his  assumption  of 
the  temporal  sequence, — that  effort  is  always  subsequent 
to  an  intrinsic  interest  in  the  outcome  of  the  situation, — 
IS  at  least  open  to  argument.  Psychologists'^  treatments 
of  derived  or  secondary  passive  attention,  point  to  the 
conclusion  that  interest  grows  out  of  effort  quite  as  surely 
as  effort  out  of  interest.  Examples  are  not  lacking^  to 
show  that  effort  under  stress  of  compulsion  to  master  a 
-certain  lesson  or  subject  results  quite  frequently  in  in- 
tense and  lasting  interest  in  that  subject.  In  the  mastery 
X)f  such  subjects  as  telegraphy,  typewriting,  instrumental 
music,  and  foreign  languages,  in  which  one  of  the  essen- 
tial elements  is  automatization  of  responses,  there  always 
<?omes  a  period  when  novelty  no  longer  appeals,  when  in- 
terest lags,  and  progress  stops.  This  is  a  critical  period 
and  unless  continued  effort  is  kept  up  by  compulsion, 
either  from  within  or  without,  the  desired  mastery  is 
never  gained  and  the  learning  process  is  a  failure. 

The  ''problem''  situation!^  in  which  the  pupil  sees 

^Interest  and  Effort  in  Education. 

•Titchener,  E.  B.  Textbook  of  Psychology,  pp.  268  et  seq.  Angell,  J. 
R.     Psychology,  pp.  84  et  seq. 

•Bagley,  W,  C.  School  Discipline,  Chap  XIV.  Bryan  and  Harter, 
Psych.  Rev.  Vol.  IV, 

"Wilson,  H.  B.  and  G.  M.  Motivation  in  School  Work,  p.  10.  Mann, 
0.  R,  Teaching  of  Physics,  Part  III.  Dewey,  J.  Interest  and  Effort  in  Ed- 
ucation. 


108  Study  of  Corporation  Schools 

the  realization  of  some  value  of  vital  interest  to  him,  some 
satisfaction  of  a  real  felt  need,  is  doubtless  one  in  which 
the  pupil  will  make  the  greatest  effort,  the  greatest  gain, 
and  the  most  efficient  mastery  of  subject  matter.  The 
teacher's  task  would  be  comparatively  easy  if  the  pupiFs 
feeling  of  the  worthwhileness  in  any  situation, — his  felt 
need, — always  coincided  with  his  real  need. 

This  places  upon  the  teacher  the  responsibility  of 
pointing  out  or  creating  and  developing  wherever  possi- 
ble, the  problematic  situation.  He  must  organize  his 
work  so  that  the  pupil's  time  shall  be  employed  in  his 
efforts  to  realize  some  significant  or  worthy  end.  Only 
by  so  doing  can  the  activity  of  the  pupil  be  developed  to 
its  highest  efficiency. 

From  the  point  of  view  of  the  corporation  school,  mo- 
tivation is  quite  as  important  as  in  other  schools.  Motives 
will  vary,  according  as  the  various  aims  of  education  are 
considered  paramount.  The  aims  of  corporation  schools 
are  doubtless  narrower  than  the  aims  of  the  public  sec- 
ondary school  or  technical  schools,  but  they  are  more 
specific  and  the  corporation  school  has  in  addition  to  the 
incentives  applicable  to  public  school  work  some  other 
very  specific  motives. 

In  the  opinion  of  the  writer,  teachers  in  other  types 
of  schools  can  profit  by  making  use,  as  far  as  possible,  of 
the  motives  employed  in  corporation  schools,  and  on  the 
other  hand,  corporation  school  teachers  can  develop  a 
broader  outlook  and  a  higher  efficiency  by  a  theoretical 
as  well  as  a  working  knowledge  of  motivation  as  it  is 
employed  in  the  best  public  schools. 

Public  secondary  school  teachers  and  technical-school 
teachers  have  at  their  command  the  following  motives: 
promotion,  grades  and  marks,  commendation  and  praise, 


Motivation  op  Work  109 

objective  standards,*  privileges  and  immunities,  penal- 
ties, the  ''school  situation,"  and  the  "problem"  situa- 
tion. Another  group  of  motives  not  wholly  distinct  nor 
separable  from  these  are:  ideals,  attitudes,  and  instinc- 
tive tendencies. 

There  are  two  motive  situations  mentioned  above 
which  merit  a  brief  discussion.  There  are :  the  ' '  school 
situation",  and  the  ''problem"  situation. 

1.  The  "school  situation" :  In  America  the  one  pub- 
lic institution  which  more  than  any  other  is  taken  for 
granted,  is  the  public  school.  From  the  very  beginning  of 
our  national  life,  the  atmosphere  has  been  permeated  with 
education.  It  is  then  no  occasion  for  wonder  that  the 
average  American  child  takes  school  life  and  school  duties 
as  a  matter  of  course.  Nothing  is  easier  or  more  natural 
than  to  do  what  everybody  else  is  doing,  and  so  it  hap- 
pens that  most  American  children  need  no  extraneous 
spur,  no  artificial  incentive.  Let  the  average  pupil  be 
asked  why  he  works  to  prepare  his  lessons  well,  why  he 
goes  to  school,  and  the  chances  are  that  he  will  reply,  in 
substance  at  least,  that  "it  is  the  thing  to  do."  He  is 
not  conscious  of  any  of  the  other  and  more  artificial  mo- 
tives which  have  been  named.  The  school  situation  is  the 
all  sufficient  motive;  ideals  of  duty,  of  industry,  and  of 
right  conduct  are  inherent  in  the  atmosphere  of  the  situ- 
ation. 

2.  The  problem  situation:  The  advantages  and  the 
disadvantages  of  the  "problem"  were  discussed  above. 
While  the  "problem"  situation  or  problem  method  does 
not  adequately  meet  all  the  requirements  for  motiva- 
tion in  actual  practice  it  is  without  doubt  the  most  effi- 
cient and  most  natural  stimulus,  and  no  teacher  can  be 

*A  summary  of  the  investigations  on  Teachers'  marks  and  marking 
systems  is  found  in  the  Journal  of  Educational  Administration  and  Super- 
vision, February  '15  by  Dr.  H.  O.  Rugg.  Summaries  of  standard  tests  and 
scales  are  found  in  the  same  journal  October,  1916,  and  Publication  No.  6, 
1915,  of  the  Division  of  Reference  and  Research,  Department  of  Educa- 
tion, New  York  City. 


110  Study  of  Corporation  Schools 

rightly  called  successful  who  does  not  employ  this  method 
in  situations  where  it  is  applicable.  There  is  always  pres- 
ent, however,  the  danger  of  going  out  of  the  way  to  in- 
troduce into  a  situation,  teacher-made  problems  which 
involve  only  tasks,  in  the  mastery  of  which  the  pupils, 
due  to  their  immaturity,  do  not  realize  any  worthwhile 
outcome. 

The  motives  which  have  been  mentioned  above  have 
an  application  to  the  work  of  the  corporation  school  quite 
as  frequently  as  to  the  work  of  the  public  schools.  Cor- 
poration schools  however,  have  the  decided  advantage  of 
some  motives  inherent  in  the  corporation  school.  These 
more  specific  motives  which  are  available  for  the  cor- 
poration school  are: 

1.  the  relation  of  employee  to  employer, 

2.  pecuniary  interest, 

3.  the  ''shop  situation,'* 

4.  real  problems. 

1.  The  relation  of  the  employee  to  the  employer  neces- 
sarily affects  the  work  of  the  corporation  school.  Among 
these  relations  are :  unquestioned  and  unhesitating  obedi- 
ence demanded  and  required  of  the  employee,  prompt 
and  regular  attendance  at  work,  penalties  in  the  form  of 
fines  or  dismissal  for  insubordination,  and  the  rewards  of 
promotion  for  faithful  service.  That  these  relations  have 
much  to  do  with  the  attitude  of  students  in  these  schools 
can  scarcely  be  questioned. 

2.  Pecuniary  interest:  Apprentices  and  students  in 
corporation  schools  usually  receive  wages  during  the  en- 
tire period  of  their  training.  This  fact  presents  a  con- 
dition so  different  from  public  secondarj'^  school  and  tech- 
nical school  practices  that  it  affects  any  other  comparisons 
which  may  be  made  between  the  two  kinds  of  schools. 
This  motive  has  to  do  with  the  means  of  livelihood,  with 
future  competence,  and  when  one  can  learn  a  trade,  mas- 
ter a  vocation  or  a  profession,  and  at  the  same  time  earn 


Motivation  of  Work  111 

a  living,  he  has  a  motive  force  which  usually  obviates  the 
necessity  for  any  other  incentive. 

3.  The  ''shop  situation."  In  the  foregoing  discus- 
sion, the  ' '  school  situation ' '  was  shown  to  be  an  important 
factor  in  the  motivation  of  school  activities.  What  was 
said  of  the  ''school  situation"  may  be  said  with  equal 
applicability  of  the  "shop  situation."  The  very  name 
shop  is  synonymous  with  work,  industry,  attention,  and 
respect  for  authority ;  and-  it  seems  to  exclude  idleness, 
shilly-shallying  and  inefficiency. 

It  is  difficult  to  define  what  is  here  termed  the  ' '  shop 
situation"  and  the  resulting  "shop  attitude"  just  as  the 
attitude  which  grows  out  of  the  ' '  school  situation ' '  eludes 
analysis.  It  is  taken  for  granted  by  all  concerned,  em- 
ployers and  employees  alike ;  and  this  spirit,  to  a  very 
great  extent,  pervades  the  corporation  school  as  a  de- 
partment of  the  plant,  quite  as  noticeably  as  the  other 
departments.  This  condition  relieves  the  corporation 
school  teacher  of  the  necessity  for  frequent  resort  to  arti- 
ficial stimuli  to  effort. 

In  this  particular,  corporation  schools  have  an  envia- 
ble situation.  During  the  writer's  visitation  of  corpora- 
tion schools,  everywhere  the  favorable  attitude  of  stu- 
dents toward  the  school  has  been  in  evidence.  In  one 
school  in  reply  to  the  query,  whether  the  very  apparent 
interest  of  the  students  in  their  work  was  due  to  any  spe- 
cial aptitude  of  the  students  for  the  particular  courses 
they  were  pursuing,  there  was  the  significant  statement  : 
"It  is  not  a  matter  of  aptitude  but  of  ' attitude \"  The 
truth  of  this  statement  was  attested  by  the  replies  made 
by  several  students,  that  they  had  not  been  conscious  of 
any  special  leaning  toward  the  kind  of  work  that  they 
were  doing,  but  that  they  had  taken  the  first  job  which 
had  offered  itself.  Mr.  Hultz,  who  is  in  charge  of  the 
"junior  academy"  of  the  Marshall  Field  and  Company's 
store  in  Chicago,  also  saj^s  that  success  is  not  a  matter  of 


112  Study  of  Corporation  Schools 

aptitude  as  much  as  attitude.  *'The  average  American 
boy  has  the  ability  in  the  proper  environment  to  succeed 
in  any  one  of  a  half  dozen  vocations. '  '* 

If  then,  aptitude  does  not  account  fully  for  this  de- 
sirable attitude  found  in  corporation  schools,  its  source 
must  be  sought  in  some  other  direction.  In  the  writer 's 
opinion,  this  source  is  inherent  in  the  three  motive  situ- 
ations just  discussed  and  in  the  real  problems  and  proj- 
ects which  make  up  a  large  part  of  the  activity  of  the 
corporation  school. 

4.  Real  problems  and  projects:  The  earlier  discus- 
sions of  these  topics  pointed  out  their  importance  as 
sources  of  interest.  The  greater  applicability  of  these 
motives  to  the  corporation  school  is  due  to  the  fact  that 
much  of  the  general  education  and  practically  all  of  the 
shop  work  has  a  connection  with  the  present  and  future 
economic  activities  of  the  students.  They  are  mastering 
the  principles  and  processes  of  their  chosen  vocations  and 
they  realize  that  their  chances  for  success  and  advance- 
ment are  directly  proportional  to  the  degree  of  mastery 
attained.  The  shop  work  is  usually  done  under  condi- 
tions where  the  shop  attitude  prevails  and  where  the  re- 
quirements of  the  work  are  the  rigid  commercial  stand- 
ards of  excellence  of  output  and  economy  of  time. 

The  shop  attitude  and  the  real-problem  situation,  how- 
ever desirable  and  however  common  they  may  be,  do  not 
seem  to  have  in  them  the  elements  of  all  sufficient  motiva- 
tion. Actual  practice  indicates  that  they  are  sometimes 
found  lacking.  In  many  corporation  schools,  pecuniary 
prizes  for  excellence  of  school  work  and  bonuses  for  the 
satisfactory  completion  of  courses  are  frequently  given. 
Out  of  thirty-three  schools  reporting,  ^^  ten  offer  prizes  or 
bonuses,  another  report^*  shows  that  eighteen  out  of 

*P«rfonftI  interyiewB  at  the  R.  R.  Donelley  Oompanv  plant,  at  Swift 
and  Company's  plant,  and  at    Marshall  Field  &  Company  s  store. 
»R«f.  4a,  p.  76. 
ORef.  19,  p.  145. 


Motivation  of  Work  113 

forty-nine  give  prizes  or  bonuses,  and  others^^  show  that 
this  practice  is  quite  common. 

Conclusion 

In  the  last  two  motives  discussed,  the  ''shop  situa- 
tion" and  the  real  problem,  the  corporation  school  has 
an  advantage  over  the  public  secondary  school  and  over 
the  technical  school  which  accounts  for  a  considerable 
part  of  the  superiority  (where  superiority  is  shown)  of 
the  corporation  school  over  the  other  types  of  schools. 
The  utility  of  these  two  motives  suggest  that  the  solution 
of  the  problem  of  vocational  education  may  be  found  in 
some  form  of  organization  which  will  make  use  of  the 
most  powerful  motivating  situations  of  both  groups  of 
schools. 


»»Ref.  31,  chart  p.  120. 


114  Study  op  Corporation  Schools 


Chapter  VII 

Comparative  Efficiency  op  Corporation  Schools  as  to 
Curricula  and  Courses  of  Study 

The  fourth  point  of  view  from  which  to  compare  the 
corporation  school  with  public  secondary  schools  and 
technical  schools  is  in  the  matter  of  curricula  and  courses 
of  study. 

If  all  that  is  implied  in  the  aim  of  the  National  Asso- 
ciation of  Corporation  Schools — **to  increase  the  effi- 
ciency of  industry ' ' — be  accepted,  there  arises  the  neces- 
sity of  taking  into  consideration  other  educational  values 
besides  the  practical,  in  judging  curricula  and  courses  of 
study. 

While  the  practical  must  dominate,  especially  in  cor- 
poration schools,  there  are  frequent  opportunities  to 
choose  between  materials  which  have  other  educational 
values  in  varying  degrees.  It  has  been  pointed  out  that 
knowledge — knowledge  of  specific  facts  and  specific  proc- 
esses— is  the  desired  outcome  in  corporation  schools.  Effi- 
ciency as  measured  by  increased  dividends  must  be  the 
ultimate  end  of  all  business  activity,  yet  this  aim  need 
not  be  unmixed  with  higher  and  more  humanitarian  aims 
and  other  educational  values. 

Among  these  other  educational  values  are  the  follow- 


ing :* 


practical 
intellectual 
political  and  elTio 


social 

esthetic 

ethical 

conventional 

relitrious 

cultural 

These  aims  are  largely  self-explanatory  and  it  is  not 
in  point  here  to  elaborate  upon  them.  The  consideration 
of  these  aims  contribute  to  a  broader  definition  of  the 
*  *  highest  efficiency.  *  * 

iDavis,  0.  O.  Hiffh  School  Oourte*  of  Study,  Ob%p.  III. 


Curricula  and  Course  of  Study  115 

It  is  not  within  the  scope  of  this  study  to  outline  cur- 
ricula and  courses^  for  any  particular  type  of  school.  The 
writer  points  out  some  of  the  evident  weaknesses  of  ex- 
isting courses,  and  enumerates  a  few  guiding  principles 
for  curriculum  planning  and  building. 

The  writer  has  examined  46  courses  and  curricula 
from  corporation  schools  and  from  public  secondary 
schools  and  technical  schools;  and  has  compared  them 
from  three  standpoints:  first,  logical  and  pedagogical 
arrangement ;  second,  content ;  and  third,  time  allotment. 
In  making  these  comparisons,  the  writer  has  kept  in  mind 
the  aims  of  corporation  schools  (Chapter  III)  which  are 
admittedly  much  narrower  and  more  specific  than  those 
usually  sought  in  public  secondary  schools  or  technical 
schools. 

The  curricula  shown  in  successive  year-books  of  dif- 
ferent corporation  schools  reveal  the  fact  that  some 
have  grown  simply  by  accretion,  coral-like,  without  any 
organic  connection  between  the  old  courses  and  the  added 
materials.  In  a  growing  institution  it  is  not  easy  to  avoid 
this  difficulty.  Perhaps  the  only  remedy  is  to  reorganize 
these  curricula  more  frequently,  in  order  that  the  later 
courses  may  be  properly  articulated  with  the  old  ones. 

This  lack  of  proper  arrangement  of  lesson  and  course 
topics  is  a  natural  outcome  of  building  piece  by  piece,  in- 
stead of  planning  all  with  a  view  to  the  interrelation 
among  the  several  parts. 

An  illustration  of  this  point  is  found  in  a  course  in 
mechanical  drawing.  In  this  outline,  several  early  lessons 
in  the  course  involve  working  drawings  of  machine  parts, 

^These  terms  are  used  as  defined  by  a  committee  of  the  North  Central 
Association  of  Colleges  and  Secondary  Schools.      (Unpublished.) 

Course  of  Study  is  the  work  in  one  subject  or  a  division  of  that  subject 
running  through  one  term  or  semester. 

Curriculum  is  a  group  of  courses  related  to  each  other,  outlined  for  a 
particular  group  of  students,  and  continuing  through  a  number  of  terms 
or  semesters. 

Program  of  studies  includes  all  the  different  courses  and  curricula  of- 
fered in  a  school. 


116  Study  of  Corporation  Schools 

while  such  elementary  problems  as  drawing  parallels  and 
perpendiculars,  are  deferred  to  a  much  later  period  in 
the  course.  This  is  perhaps  an  extreme  case  but  other 
examples  of  a  similar  disregard  for  pedagogical  and  log- 
ical sequence  are  common. 

One  of  the  serious  faults  in  curricula  and  courses 
is  lack  of  a  proper  time  distribution.  This  point  is  illus- 
trated in  the  work-shop  outline  for  technical  graduates, 
found  in  one  of  the  circulars  examined  by  the  writer. 
The  following  classes  of  work  were  outlined  : 

milling  machines  lathe 

I.  .  screw  machine  gear  cutting 

grinders  drill  press 

tool  room  machines  foundry 

The  same  amount  of  time — nine  weeks — was  assigned 
to  each  of  these  classes  of  work,  without  any  apparent 
regard  for  the  varying  degrees  of  difficulty  involved  in 
the  processes.  Any  intelligent  technical  graduate  can  be 
taught  in  a  few  hours  to  operate  a  drill  press  or  a  screw 
machine  fully  as  well  as  an  old  operator,  but  possibly 
not  so  fast,  and  there  is  no  logical  reason  for  keeping 
a  student  at  such  work  nine  weeks  when  many  of  the 
other  processes  require  so  much  more  time  before  the 
student  attains  a  mastery  of  them.  An  outline  for  un- 
dergraduate courses,  secured  from  the  Mechanical  Engi- 
neering Department  of  the  University  of  Illinois,  shows 
the  following  distribution  of  time  for  these  items : 

milling  machine 12  weeks     foundry 16  weeks 

lathe 12  weeks     grinders 6  weeks 

screw  machine  ....   4  weeks     drill  press 4  weeks 

If  undergraduates  can  master  these  processes  in  the 
specified  time,  technical  graduates  ought  to  master  a  new 
machine  for  these  processes  in  a  relatively  short  time. 
This  discrepancy  is  further  emphasized  by  the  fact  that 
one  well-known  ''special  training"  school  expects  tech- 
nical graduates  to  master  the  operation  of  the  screw  ma- 
chine in  four  and  a  half  days.    In  another  outline,  tool 


Curricula  and  Course  of  Study  117 

designing  is  given  ten  weeks  of  shop  practice,  while  an- 
other concern  in  the  same  business  requires  the  mastery 
of  this  process  in  less  than  a  week.  Both  these  com- 
panies accept  only  technical  graduates. 

This  criticism  of  time  allotment  does  not  apply  with 
such  force  when  students  are  engaged  in  real  productive 
work  under  shop  conditions  and  a  somewhat  arbitrary 
time  distribution  for  the  various  classes  of  work  may  be 
necessary  in  order  to  keep  all  the  machines  and  all  the 
students  busy,  but  it  is  poor  pedagogical  practice  to  keep 
technical  graduates  employed  in  any  learning  process 
longer  than  necessaiy  to  master  the  process. 

Faulty  time  distribution  is  also  frequently  found  in 
the  theoretical  work.  This  is  one  of  the  chief  weaknesses 
of  courses  outlined  only  in  loose-leaf  lesson  sheets.  "While 
lesson  sheets  have  some  advantages  (see  next  chapter), 
they  are  likely  to  be  poorly  balanced  as  to  time  allot- 
ments,^  and  relatively  unimportant  topics  are  often  given 
allotments  of  time  equal  to  those  given  to  important  prin- 
ciples. 

The  examples  just  cited  emphasize  the  importance 
of  guiding  principles  in  planning  curricula  and  courses. 
These  principles  are  summarized  below : 

1.  Each  course,  each  topic  in  a  course,  and  each 
shop  assignment  should  be  allotted  only  such  a  propor- 
tion of  the  entire  time  available  as  will  enable  students 
to  attain  a  reasonable  degree  of  mastery  of  it. 

2.  Time  distribution  must  be  made  with  the  entire 
curriculum  in  view,  and  hence  must  be  the  result  of  con- 
sultation between  the  instructor  and  the  school  adminis- 
trator. 

3.  Time  allotments  should  be  made  with  due  regard 

•A  valuable  discussion  of  time  distribution  of  interest  to  educational 
directors  is  found  in  the  Fourteenth  Yearbook,  Part  I,  of  the  National  So- 
ciety for  the  Scientific  Study  of  Education.  Public  School  Publishing  Co., 
Bloomington,  IlIinoiB. 


118  Study  of  Corporation  Schools 

to  the  relative  educational  values  of  the  various  lesson  or 
course  units. 

4.  A  proper  pedagogical  or  logical  sequence  of  various 
lesson  and  course  units  must  be  observed. 

Below  are  reproduced  a  number  of  curricula  from 
both  corporation  schools  and  public  schools,  in  order  to 
illustrate  some  of  the  faults  and  some  of  the  strong  points 
in  curriculum  building.  It  will  be  noticed  that  several  of 
the  exhibits  are  simply  outlines  of  single  courses  rather 
than  curricula.  It  is,  of  course,  quite  possible  to  have  an 
admirable  curriculum  on  paper  and  to  have  a  wide  de- 
parture from  it  in  practice,  and  the  writer  does  not  as- 
sume in  the  case  of  the  curricula  presented  that  they  are 
carried  out  as  printed.  Some  of  the  curricula  are  definite 
as  to  time  allotment  for  the  different  topics  while  others 
give  little  or  no  information  on  this  point. 

OUBRIOULUM  A. 

MECHANICS*  SHORT  COURSE 

For  Automobile  Mechanics  to  be  "Packardized." 

Total  time  three  months 

Pleasure  car  factory motor  room 1  week 

steering 8  days 

bridge  and  transmission 1  week 

chassis 8  days 

"K.  B." 1  ^eek 

Truck  factory motor 8  days 

steering 8  days 

bridge  and  transmission 1  week 

chassis 8  days 

truck  tuning 1  werfc 

Electrical  department wiring     testing  circuits    ....  3  days 

"K.  B." 8  days 

Operating  department car  inspection 8  days 

truck  inspection 8  days 

car  driving  test 1  wedc 

truck  driving  test 1  week 

In  this  mechanics'  short  course,  the  time  allotments 
are  definite  and  the  sequence  of  topics  clearly  shown,  but 
details  are  lacking  as  to  the  content  of  the  course  units. 


OUKBICULA    AND   COURSE    OF    StUDY  119 

OURBIOULUM  B. 

STUDENTS'  TRAINING  COURSE  IN  STOCK-ROOM 
(Western  Electric  Company,   Chicago.) 

1st  day  Friday,  Class  C 

2nd  day  Saturday,  Tool  Room 

3rd  day  Monday,  C.  T.  Sub  Station  Counter 

4th  day  Tuesday,  Hardware  and  Line  Material 

5th  day  Wednesday,  Power  Material 

6th  day  Thursday,  Sub  Sets  and  Inter-phones 

7th  day  Friday,  Inter.  Wires  and  Power  Wires 

8th  day  Saturday,  Lamps  and  Batteries 

9th  day  Monday,  Receiving,   Shipping  and  Cable  work 

10th  day  Tuesday,  Shop  and  Clearing  house 

11th  day  Wednesday,  Working  with  Stockkeeper 

12th  day  Thursday,  putting  away  stock  and  working 

13th  day  Friday,  in  stock  racks 

14th  day  Saturday,  Supply  Stocks 

15th  day  Monday,  

16th  day  Tuesday,  Working  with  selectors 

17th  day  Wednesday,  to  pick  material 

18th  day  Thursday,  4-day8  on   Supply  Material 

19th  day  Friday,  1  day  on  Telephone  Material 

20th  day  Saturday,  

SUMMARY. 

By  this  time  the  student  shall  be  familiar  with  all  the  operations  re- 
quired on  an  order,  from  the  time  it  is  received  from  the  customer  to  its 
shipment.  He  shall  know  the  various  classes  of  customers  to  whom  we  ship, 
and  the  kind  of  material  each  one  uses.  He  shall  study  the  organization  of 
a  branch  house,  and  know  the  duties  of  each  part.  If  questions  arise  which 
do  not  seem  to  be  answered  satisfactorily  by  the  various  division  heads,  he 
shall  make  a  note  of  them  and  before  the  end  of  the  term  seek  an  interview 
with  the  stores  manager,  who  will  be  glad  to  answer  any  questions. 

The  above  course  is  presented  as  an  example  of  detail 
in  showing  the  sequence  of  course  units  and  the  allot- 
ments of  time  to  the  various  units. 

Few  corporation  school  courses  or  curricula  have  been 
worked  out  with  such  detail  as  the  above,  and  no  public 
secondary  school  or  technical  school  curricula  approach 
the  definiteness  of  this  time  allotment. 

CURRICULUM  0. 

ENGINEERING  CURRICULUM  FOR  COLLEGE  GRADUATES 

(Western  Electric  Company,  Chicago) 

Total  time  49  weeks 

Educational  department 4  days 

General  acquaintance  with  the  Hawthorne  Plant,  history  and  organiza- 
tion of  the  company,  history  and  development  of  the  telephone  industry, 
inspection  trips  through  the  shops. 


120  Study  of  Corporation  Schools 

Apparatus  assembly  department 4  weeki 

Keys,  relays,   drops,   signals  ringers,   generators,   coin  collectors,  jacks, 
lamps,  telephones. 

Machine  department 2  weeki 

Tapping,    drilling,  milling,   hand-screw  machine,   automatic  screw  ma- 
chine,  punch  press,  metal  finishing,  tool  design  and  tool  making^, 

Cable  and  cord   departments 1  week 

Manufacturing  of  cords,  switchboard  cable,  lead  covered  cable. 

Switch  board  wiring  department 6  weeks 

Wiring,   testing,   inspection,   local   cable  forming,  mounting  apparatus, 
study  of  types  of  switch  boards  for  various  service  requirements. 

Factory  cabling  department 2  weeks 

Forming,  soldering,  testing,  inspecting  of  cable  for  tdephone  offices. 

Educational  department 1  week 

Laboratory  work  on  switch  board  circuits  and  exchange  operation. 

Engineering   laboratories.   New  York 6-12  weeks* 

Laboratory  practice  in  physical  and  electrical  measurements  and  trans- 
mission  study. 

Installation  department 16-20  weeks* 

Installation  and  assembly  of  telephone  switch  board,   cabling,  testing, 
inspection. 

Engineering  drafting  department 0-8  wedEB* 

drafting  methods,  designs,  practices. 

*  Depending  upon  permanent  work  aimed  at. 

Curriculum.  C  gives  definite  information  as  to  se- 
quence of  the  larger  course  units  and  the  time  allotted  to 
them.  The  content  of  the  curriculum  is  more  definitely 
shown  than  in  many  examined. 

The  curricula  B  and  C  are  good  examples  of  the  effect 
of  the  efficiency  engineer  upon  all  departments  of  an 
institution.  Time  allotment  is  one  of  the  chief  items  in 
the  duty  of  the  efficiency  engineer  but  the  curricula  of 
public  secondary  schools  and  technical  schools  show  little 
evidence  of  the  work  of  such  an  official. 

CURRICULUM  D. 

CURRICULUM    FOR     BRIDGE     ENGINEERS 
(American  Bridge  Company) 

First  Year 

first  semester :  advanced  algebra  mechanical  drawing 

second  semester ;         plane  geometry structural  drawing 

Second  Year 

first  semester :  solid  geometry  strength  of  materials 

second  semester :        trigonometry  elementary  mechanics 


CUEBICULA    AND   COURSE   OF   StUDY 


121 


Third  Year 

first  semeBter: 
second  semester ; 


analytic  geometry 
diflferential  calculus 


bridge  and  building  design 
bridge  and  building  design 


Fourth  Year 

first  semester: 
second  semester : 


Integral  calculus 
advanced  mechanics 


bridge  and  building  design 
bridge  and  building  design 


The  above  curriculum  does  not  state  the  number  of 
hours  per  week  nor  the  number  of  weeks  for  any  course, 
so  that  time  allotments  cannot  be  criticised.  The  sequence 
of  courses  is  subject  to  criticism  for  the  separate  teaching 
of  differential  and  integral  calculus.  Many  good  teachers 
now  teach  them  simultaneously. 


CURRICULUM  E. 
UNION    SCHOOL    OP    SALESMANSHIP    CURRICULUM,    BOSTON 


Textiles 

Fibres — wool,   silk,  cotton,  linen. 
Manufacture. 
Commercial  geography 
Fabrics. 


Econmics 

Relation   of   capital   and   wages 
Relation   of   expenditure   to   in- 
come 
The  spending  of  money 
The  saving  of  money 


Color  and  Design 

Recognition  of  color  tones 
Color  combinations 
Appropriate  use  of  colors 
Principles  of  design  in  dress  and 
furnishing 


Arithmetic 

Sale  slip  practice  and  store  sys- 
tem 

Drill  in  addition  and  multipli- 
cation 

Fractions  and  percentage 

Cash  accounts 

Business   forms 


Salesmanship 

Discussion    of    store    experiences 

and  the  principles  involved 
Demonstration   selling    and    class 

criticisms 
Lectures  on  retail  selling 
Care  of  stock 
Approaching  a   customer 
Individual  conferences  with  sales 

girls 


Personal   hygiene   as  related  to  busi- 
ness honesty 
Hygienic  dress 
Personal  appearance 
Bathing 

Sleep  and  ventilation 
Diet 
The  nerves 


The  above  curriculum  given  no  information  as  to  ar- 
rangement of  courses  or  time  allotments.  The  content  of 
the  courses  is  not  outlined  in  detail. 

The  following  curriculum  from  the  University  of  Illi- 
nois Register,  taken  in  connection  with  the  descriptions 


122 


Study  of  Corporation  Schools 


of  the  various  courses  referred  to  by  number,  is  a  typical 
technical  school  curriculum  outline.  It  is  definite  as  to 
the  amount  of  time  for  each  course,  as  to  the  content  and 
sequence  of  the  courses. 


CURRICULUM  p. 

CURRICULUM    IN    ELECTRICAL    ENGINEERINa 
FiEST  Year 


First  Semester 

Hours 
Chem.  la  or  lb — Inorganic  Chem- 
istry   3  or  4 

G.  E.  D.  1 — Elements  of  Drafting  4 

Math.  2 — Algebra 8 

Math.  4 — Trigonometry 2 

Rhet.    1 — Rhetoric  and  Themes.  .  3 

Engineering  lecture 0 

Phys.   Tr.   1  and   la — Gymnasium 

and  Hygiene 1 

Mil.    2a — ^Military   Drill 1 


Second  Semester 

Hours 
Chem.  4 — Qualitative  Analysis...   4 
G.  E.  D.  2 Descriptive  Geom- 
etry   4 

Math.  6 — ^Analytic  Geometry 5 

Rhet.  2 — Rhetoric  and  Themes. . .   8 

Engineering  Lecture 0 

Phys.  Tr.  2 — Gymnasium 1 

Mil.    1 — Drill  Regulations 1 

Mil.  2d— Military  Drill 1 


Total 


—  Total 


,19 


17  or  18 


Skcond  Ykar 


Language  4 

Math.  7 — DiflFerential  Calculus...  5 
M.    E.     75     and     77 — Forge    and 
Foundry,  or  M.  E.  79 — Pattern 

Work 8 

Phys.   la — Physics  Lectures 3 

Phys.   3a — 'Physics  Laboratory.  .  .  2 

Mil.    2c — Military    Drill 1 

Total 18 


Language  4 

Math.  9 — Integral  Calculus 8 

M.  E.   75  and  77 — Forge  and 
Foundry,  or  M.  E.  79 — Pattern 

Work 8 

Phys.  lb— Physics  Lectures...  2 
Phys.  3b — Physics  Laboratory.  . .  2 
T.  &  A.  M.  20 — Analytical  Mechan- 

Mil.   '2d— Military  DriU 1 


Total 


.18 


Third  Ykar 


Chem.  4 — Qualitative  Analysis. . .   4 
E.    E.    25 — Direct    Current  Appa- 
ratus      4 

E.   E.    75 — Electrical   Engineering 

Laboratory 2 

Math.  9a — Integral  Calculus 2 

Phys.  4a — Electrical  and  Magnetic 

Measurement 2 

T.  &  A.  M.  25 — Resistance  of  Ma- 
terials   4 


E.  E.  26 — Alternating  Currents.  .   4 
E.   E.   76 — Electrical  Engineering 

Laboratory 3 

M.  E.  2— Steam  Engineering.  ...    8 

Non-technical  elective 8 

Phys.  4b — Electrical  and  Magnetic 

Measurement 2 

T.    A    A.    M.    26— Analytical   Me- 
chanics and  Hydraulics 4 


Total 


—  Total 

.IS 


,18 


CUKRICULA    AND   COURSE    OF    StUDY 


123 


FOXTBTH  YbAB 


E.   E.   85 — ^Alternating   Ourrent 

Apparatus A 

E.  E.  55 — ^Electrical  Design 2 

E.  E.  85 — ^Electrical  Engineering 

Laboratory 2 

E.  E.  95 — Seminar 1 

M.  E.  11 — ^Thermodynamics 8 

M.  E.  61 — Power  Measurement. .  2 

E.  E.  99 — ^Inspection  Trip 0 

Non-technical  elective 8 


Total 


E.  E.  36 — Alternating  Current 

Apparatus 4 

E.   E.   56 — Electrical   Design 4 

E.  E,   86 — ^Electrical  Engineering 

Laboratory 2 

E.  E.  96 — Seminar 1 

E.  E.  98 — ^Thesis  or  elective 8 

Non-technical  elective  .   8 


Total 


17 


17 


CURRICULUM  G. 

CRANE  MANUAI.  TRAINING  HIGH   SCHOOL,   CHICAGO. 
Scientific  Course 


First  Year          Courses                                                 Weeks  Hours  per     Credits 

week 

English 40  4  .8 

Algebra 40  4  .8 

Physiology 20  6  .4 

Physiography 20  5  .4 

Mechanical   Drawing 40  4  .8 

Wood- work 40  8  .8 

Freehand  Drawing 40  1  .2 

Gymnasium 40  1  .1 

Music 40  1  .1 

Total 4.4 

Second  Year     English  Literature 40  4  .8 

Plane  Geometry 40  4  .8 

Zoology  or  Botany 40  6  .8 

Mechanical  Drawing 40  4  .8 

Blacksmithing 20  10  .4 

Foundry  and  Pattern  work 20  10  .4 

Gymnasium 40  1  .1 

Music 40  1  .1 

Total 4.2 

Third  Year         English 40  2  .4 

Solid  Geometry 20  4  .4 

Advanced  Algebra 20  4  .4 

Physics 40  6  .8 

Modern  History 40  4  .8 

Machine  Shop  Practice 40  6  .6 

Machine  or  Arch.   Drawing 40  4  .8 

Freehand  Drawing , .  .40  2  .4 

Gymnasium 40  1  .1 

Music 40  1  .1 

Total 4.8 


124  Study  or  Corporation  Schools 


Fonrth  Year      American  History 20 

Ciyil  Government 20 

Trigonometry 20 

Engineering 20 

Chemistry 40 

Machine  or  Arch.  Design 40 

English 40 

Freehand  Drawing 40 

Gymnasium 40 


Electric  Shop    40  10  1.0 

Total 5.9 

The  above  is  a  typical  secondary-school  curriculum. 
It  gives  the  time  allotments,  and  the  sequence  of  courses, 
but  no  information  as  to  the  content  of  the  courses,  and 
no  information  as  to  the  time  allotted  to  the  larger  course 
units. 

CONCLUSION 

The  most  obvious  conclusion  to  be  drawn  from  the 
curricula  shown  in  this  chapter,  and  from  others  which 
have  been  examined,  is  that  a  very  large  proportion  of 
them  do  not  give  sufficient  information  to  form  the  basis 
of  a  satisfactory  comparison  between  the  two  groups  of 
schools.  So  far  as  this  information  may  be  considered 
a  basis  for  such  a  comparison,  the  writer's  opinion  is  that 
the  curricula  and  courses  of  study  of  public  secondary 
schools  and  technical  schools  show  a  greater  considera- 
tion for  pedagogical  and  logical  arrangement  and  a  more 
thorough  organization  of  the  courses  into  curricula  and 
of  course  units  into  courses;  and  that  the  courses  and 
curricula  of  corporation  schools  show  a  greater  specificity 
and  a  closer  relation  between  the  materials  of  instruction 
and  the  aims  sought.  The  courses  and  curricula  of  public 
secondary  schools  and  technical  schools  show  a  greater 
breadth  and  a  greater  consideration  for  the  other  educa- 
tional aims  and  values  enumerated  at  the  beginning  of 
this  chapter. 

As  to  time  allotments  no  conclusion  is  warranted  as  to 
which  type   of  school   shows  the  better  usage.     The 


Curricula  and  Course  of  Study  12S 

courses  and  curricula  examined  indicate  that  the  question 
of  time  allotments  has  been  more  generally  considered 
in  public  secondary  schools  and  technical  schools  than  in 
corporation  schools,  but  in  the  few  cases  where  corpora- 
tion school  administrators  have  applied  the  principles  of 
the  efficiency  expert,  their  curricula  show  a  much  more 
careful  working  out  of  time  allotments  than  has  been 
found  in  any  public  secondary  school  or  technical  school 
curricula. 


126  Study  of  Corporation  Schools 


Chapter  VIII 

Comparative  Efficiency  of  Corporation  Schools  as  to 
Textbooks  and  Lesson  Sheets 

In  this  chapter  a  comparison  is  made  between  the  cor- 
poration school  on  the  one  hand,  and  the  public  schools 
and  technical  schools  on  the  other  hand,  in  the  matter  of 
textbooks  and  lesson  sheets.  In  the  first  part  of  the 
chapter  an  attempt  is  made  to  determine  what  standards 
are  available  for  the  criticism  of  text  books  and  lesson 
sheets ;  in  the  latter  part  of  the  chapter  the  textbooks  and 
lesson  sheets  used  and  offered  for  use  in  corporation 
schools  are  tested  by  these  standards.  A  practical 
difficulty  exists  as  to  the  definition  of  a  corporation 
school  textbook  and  an  ordinary  textbook.  For  this 
study,  a  corporation  school  textbook  is  one  published  os- 
tensibly for  use  in  corporation  schools,  though  naturally 
no  publisher  would  refuse  to  supply  his  books  for  use  in 
any  kind  of  school.  Ordinary  textbooks  are  also  fre- 
quently used  in  corporation  schools  as  well  as  in  public 
schools  and  technical  schools.  There  is,  therefore,  no 
well  defined  boundary  line  between  the  two  types  of 
books. 

The  writer  has  been  able  to  secure  but  a  very  limited 
number  of  treatises  on  textbook  writing.  ^  One  of  these,^ 
by  Mr.  J.  A.  Waddell,  is  summarized  as  follows:  *'In 
writing  a  textbook,  the  first  step  is  to  determine  the  scope 
and  the  limitations  of  the  book,  then  to  determine  a  tenta- 
tive, and  later  a  final  list  of  chapters  and  the  specific 
scope  of  each  chapter.    The  proper  sequence  of  chapters 

»Oharters,  W.  W.  Methods  of  Teaching,  Chap.  XVII.  Frost,  H.  Good 
Enffineeritiff  Litsrature.     Chicago  Book  Co. 

»Waddell,  J.  A.  Technical  Textbook  Writing,  Bnginttring  BditctMen, 
Nov.  and  Dec,  1916. 


Textbooks  127 

is  of  paramount  importance,  and  consideration  must  be 
observed  for  both  logical  and  chronological  sequence. 
* '  Mr.  Waddell  recommends  copious  reference)  to  authori- 
ties as  well  as  a  careful  selection  of  quotations  from  the 
best  technical  writers  on  the  subject  being  treated.  Ut- 
most care  must  be  observed  to  include  the  latest  knowl- 
edge and  treatment  of  the  most  modern  procedure.  He 
also  believes  that  textbooks  merit  finely  polished  technical 
English,  and  that  this  must  be  ''first  handwritten,  then 
corrected,  then  typed  and  then  corrected  again."  He 
states  further,  ''I  have  never  seen  samples  of  dictated 
technical  work  which  I  would  be  willing  to  have  at- 
tributed to  my  pen In  general,  diagrams  are 

better  than  tables,  tables  better  than  formulae  and  for- 
mulae better  than  written  description  ....  Consist- 
ence in  spelling,  capitalization,  punctuation,  hypheniza- 
tion,  and  use  of  symbols  is  a  rare  but  most  valuable  at- 
tainment in  textbook  writing  ....  Elegance  of  dic- 
tion is  the  most  important  attribute  of  any  writer,  next 
to  that  of  producing  something  worthwhile,  and  perusal 
is  directly  proportional  to  good  diction." 

Mr.  Waddell  makes  much  of  mechanical  perfection  of 
the  manuscript,  and  of  the  final  printed  pages,  and  very 
properly  so,  for  there  is  scarcely  any  fault  which  preju- 
dices a  reader  so  much  against  a  book  as  errors  of  punctu- 
ation, spelling,  and  typesetting,  unless  it  be  actual  errors 
in  statement  of  facts,  principles,  or  conclusions. 

''The  last  thing  to  be  done  in  connection  with  the 
writing  of  textbooks  is  the  preparation  of  the  index.  The 
secret  of  good  indexing  is  a  wise  selection  of  key-words 
for  each  topic,  words  which  are  likely  to  suggest  them- 
selves to  seekers  after  information.  "^  Many  an  other- 
wise excellent  textbook  has  its  value  greatly  reduced  by 
lack  of  a  good  index. 

■Prost,  H.  Qood  Engineering  Literature,  Chicago  Book  Co. 


128  Study  op  Corporation  Schools 

Two  points  of  view  of  a  good  textbook  are  shown  in 
the  following  quotations.  The  first  is  from  the  stand- 
point of  the  printer  and  asks : 

"Does  the  Tolume  represent  the  best  in  typofp'sphy! 

'Is  the  paper  and  binding  suitable  and  durable? 

"Is  the  presswork  excellent,  clear  cut  and  easy  to  read  ? 

"Does  the  volume  as  a  whole  appear  as  the  work  of  an  artist?" 

The  second  is  from  the  standpoint  of  the  teacher  and 
asks: 

"Is  the  subject  matter  within  the  experience  and  reach  of  the  intended 
students? 

"Is  the  subject  matter  arranged  with  proper  sequence? 

"Does  each  section  or  chapter  appear  as  a  whole,  or  is  it  scrappy,  con- 
taining much  irrelevant  matter?" 

The  authorities  cited  above,  and  good  usage  in  text- 
book writing  seem  to  agree  upon  the  following  ''prin- 
ciples" which  should  control  the  writing  of  either  text- 
books or  lesson-sheets : 

1.  Books  must  be  truthful,  at  least  in  so  far  as  to  avoid  misstatements 
known  to  be  such  by  well  informed  persons.  Many  books  show  evidence  of 
having  been  written  by  persons  having  little  accurate  practical  personal 
knowledge  of  the  subject  treated. 

2.  Books  must  be  up-to-date.  Out-of-date  knowledge,  out-of-date  pro- 
cesses, out-of-date  facts,  and  out-of-date  opinions  have  no  place  in  progress- 
ive up-to-date  textbooks  or  lesson  sheets. 

3.  Correctness,  clearness,  simplicity,  and  elegance  of  style  are  "fully 
as  important"  as  accuracy  of  statement. 

4.  Completeness  of  treatment,  so  far  as  the  time  allotted  for  the  pro- 
posed course  will  allow,  is  essential. 

5.  Due  regard  must  be  had  for  a  proper  logical  and  pedagogical  se- 
quence of  topics  and  subtopics  as  well  as  for  chapter  headings. 

6.  Illustrations  or  tables,  in  order  to  be  justified,  must  give  more  or 
better  information  than  could  be  given  in  the  same  space  if  given  to  reading 
matter. 

7.  Consistency  and  mechanical  accuracy  in  matters  of  spelling,  cap- 
italization, punctuation,  use  of  symbols,  and  abbreviations  must  be  observed. 

8.  Mechanical  excellence  in  matters  of  composition,  type-setting  and 
presswork,  and  in  quality  of  paper  and  binding  are  important. 

9.  Textbooks  must  not  be  encyclopedic,  and  must  be  adapted  to  the 
advancement  of  the  students  for  whom  they  are  intended. 

In  pursuing  this  investigation  the  writer  has  exam- 
ined thirty-one  sets  of  lesson  sheets,  and  over  one  hun- 
dred textbooks  used  or  offered  for  use  in  corporation 
schools  and  public  schools.  Corporation  school  admin- 
istrators have  been  quite  ready  to  respond  to  requests  for 
information  in  regard  to  books  used,  and  they  have  been 


TEi:TBOOKs  129 

liberal  in  sending  copies  of  their  textbooks  and  lesson 
sheets. 

It  is  impossible  to  state  more  than  approximately  the 
relative  number  of  corporation  schools  which  are  using 
lesson  sheets  or  textbooks,  though  judging  from  data  col- 
lected and  from  personal  observation,  about  half  of  them 
use  textbooks  either  wholly  or  extensively.  The  follow- 
ing data  are  taken  from  committee  reports : 

Number  of  schools 1914  1915  1916 

a)  from  which  information  was  secured 35  56  27 

b)  using  textbooks  exclusively 6  5  15 

c)  using  lesson  sheets  exclusively 11  15  7 

d)  using  both  textbooks  and  lesson  sheets 18  36  5 

e)  "unable"  to  secure  satisfactory  textbooks 12 

f )  "able"  to  secure  satisfactory  textbooks 15 

These  data,  though  meager,  show  a  slight  tendency 
toward  a  more  common  use  of  textbooks  and  a  relative 
decrease  in  the  exclusive  use  of  lesson  sheets.  If  this  is  a 
correct  estimate,  and  if  use  is  any  criterion  of  value  it 
seems  impossible  to  state  which  is  better  suited  to  cor- 
poration school  needs. 

1.  Textbooks 

The  number  of  textbooks  offered  for  use  in  corporation 
schools  is  rapidly  increasing,  as  is  shown  by  the  extensive 
lists  of  such  books  given  in  the  proceedings  of  the  third 
annual  convention  of  the  National  Association  of  Corpor- 
ation Schools  (pages  520-526)  and  in  the  proceedings  of 
the  fourth  annual  convention  (pages  160-164,  627-633, 
and  750-752). 

Without  doubt  many  of  the  textbooks  prepared  for 
public  school  use  are  ill  adapted  to  the  specific  require- 
ments of  the  corporation  school.  The  chairman  of  the 
Committee  on  Public  Education,  of  the  National  Associa- 
tion of  Ooi^poration  Schools,  reported*^  that  he  had  ex- 

*Ref.  31,  p.  121;   Ref.  33,  p.  405:  Ref.   19,  p.   132;  Ref.  42. 
"Ref.  27,  pp.  239-40. 


130  Study  of  Corporation  Schools 

amined  a  large  number  of  the  mathematical  textbooks 
offered  by  leading  publishers  with  a  view  to  determining 
the  adaptability  of  these  books  to  industry  and  that  none 
had  been  found  suitable.  His  criticism  is  typical  of  those 
frequently  made  by  corporation  school  directors.  He 
says,  ''Even  a  superficial  examination  of  many  of  the 
textbooks  in  use  would  show  to  any  group  of  business 
men  that  actual  business  conditions  and  requirements 
have  not  been  considered  by  the  authors.  In  a  textbook 
used  by  my  own  children  in  the  city  of  Detroit,  bills  of 
lumber  are  written  in  the  reverse  order  of  length,  width, 
and  thickness. 

**  Problems  are  given  which  are  supposed  to  illustrate 
general  principles  of  arithmetic  in  which  the  necessary 
additions,  multiplications,  subtractions  and  divisions  are 
so  long  and  complicated  that  an  expert  would  hardly  be 
able  to  go  through  them  without  a  mistake. 

''There  is  a  widely  used  set  of  geographies  which 
leaves  about  as  much  of  an  impression  upon  a  student's 
mind  of  definite  locations  of  places  as  a  trip  on  a  fast 
train  would  leave.  When  children  get  through  high 
school  they  have  almost  no  notion  of  place  geography. 
The  histories  deal  largely  with  the  political  form  of  gov- 
ernment and  overlook  the  human  story  of  life  in  the  early 
settlements.  And  thus  you  could  go  down  the  list  of 
textbooks  written  for  teachers  by  teachers  and  point  out 
many  things  which  do  not  fit  directly  into  the  child's 
life,  if  he  should  enter  the  industries  with  a  preparation 
that  we  should  expect  of  one  who  has  completed  the  ele- 
mentary schools. ' ' 

It  is  true  that  many  of  the  public-school  textbooks 
have  not  been  kept  up  to  date,  though  this  criticism  seems 
to  the  writer  to  apply  fully  as  much  to  those  who  use  the 
textbook  as  to  the  publishers.  No  publisher  can  justly 
be  blamed  for  continuing  to  issue  a  book  as  long  aa  there 
is  a  market  for  it.    The  expense  of  writing  and  publishing 


Textbooks  131 

textbooks  is  very  high.  Talent  of  sufficient  calibre  to 
write  good  books  usually  commands  high  royalties  and 
the  expense  of  revision  of  an  old  edition  is  sufficient  to  in- 
duce a  publisher  to  wait  as  long  as  possible  before  discon- 
tinuing that  edition.  A  representative  of  a  well-known 
publisher  of  high-grade  textbooks  recently  told  the  writer 
that  his  company  frequently  invests  $25,000  in  editorial 
work,  plates,  binding  and  in  advertising,  before  a  single 
dollar  is  received  in  return  for  a  new  book. 

One  of  the  frequent  criticisms  against  ''regular" 
textbooks,  is  that  they  are  not  adapted  to  the  needs  of 
corporation  schools.  The  most  common  of  these  criti- 
cisms is  that  the  material  is  too  general,  or  not  near 
enough  up-to-date'  from  a  scientific  standpoint,  or  that  it 
is  too  impractical. 

Without  doubt  each  of  these  charges  can  be  main- 
tained in  individual  cases  at  least,  yet  the  number  of  text- 
books to  which  these  criticisms  do  not  apply  is  rapidly 
decreasing. 

The  following  statement  is  from  Mr.  H.  E.  Cobb,  of 
Lewis  Institute,  Chicago,  himself  a  textbook  writer  and 
book  review  editor  of  School  Science  and  MatliemaUcs. 

"The  textbooks  in  mathematics  prepared  for  sec- 
ondary schools  and  colleges  can  not  be  used  successfully 
in  corporation  schools,  evening  schools,  and  the  like.  The 
essential  facts  of  mathematics,  the  effective  way  to  use 
formulas  and  tables,  and  the  methods  of  solving  prob- 
lems and  checking  results  must  be  presented  in  a  way 
that  they  can  be  readily  grasped  by  the  practical  man 
who  finds  that  he  needs  to  use  mathematics  in  perform- 
ing his  work. 

''Fortunately,  mathematicians  of  recognized  ability 
who  have  given  instruction  in  shop  mathematics  in  Uni- 
versity Extension  courses  or  in  mathematics  courses  in 
evening  schools  have  felt  the  need  and  have  prepared 
excellent  textbooks  for  such  work.     Textbooks  like  Pal- 


132  Study  of  Corporation  Schools 

mer's  ** Practical  Mathematics**,  Norris  and  Smith's 
**Shop  AritJimetic* \  and  Norris  and  Craigo's  ** Advanced 
Shop  Mathematics**,  not  only  furnish  excellent  material 
for  instruction  in  practical  courses,  but  also  indicate 
clearly  the  way  to  make  the  mathematics  textbooks  used 
in  secondary  schools  serve  better  the  interests  of  most 
pupils. '  * 

It  is  not  an  easy  matter  to  select  the  best  book  for 
any  course,  but  there  can  be  no  reasonable  excuse  for 
using  a  book  copyrighted  in  1890,  yet  the  writer  found 
this  book^  in  use  in  the  school  maintained  by  one  of  the 
foremost  concerns  in  the  country,  and  that,  too,  in  the 
subject  of  arithmetic,  in  which  there  are  many  new  books 
issued  every  year.  If  textbooks  are  approximately  on  a 
parity  with  teachers  as  educational  factors,  the  selec- 
tion of  textbooks  ought  to  receive  approximately  as  much 
consideration  as  the  selection  of  teachers. 

No  one  can  justly  deny  that  textbooks  prepared  for 
public  and  technical  school  use  are  frequently  open  to 
the  criticisms  offered  above,  but  it  must  not  be  assumed 
that  the  textbooks  and  lesson  sheets  prepared  by  corpora- 
tion school  instructors  are  free  from  these,  and  other 
criticisms. 

The  writer  has  examined  twenty-seven  textbooks  used 
or  offered  for  use  in  corporation  schools,  especially  those 
prepared  by  corporation  school  instructors,  and  has 
found  some  of  them  very  faulty,  when  judged  by  the 
criteria  stated  above,  while  others  fully  satisfy  the  stand- 
ards which  have  been  proposed. 

Typical  of  the  poorer  class  of  books  examined,  is  a 
mathematics  textbook  edited  by  the  director  of  appren- 
ticeship work  in  tool  designing  in  a  large  automobile  man- 
ufactory, which  is  represented  by  the  author  as  a  "com- 
plete practical  manual  of  shop  mathematics."  There  is 
scarcely  a  pedagogical  principle  accepted  by  mathematics 

*Dubb'8  Aritkmetieal  Prehlevu. 


Textbooks  133 

teachers  which  is  not  violated  in  the  book,  and  its  me- 
chanical make-up,  both  from  the  standpoint  of  English 
composition  and  that  of  the  compositor  is  very  poor.  A 
single  page  contains  fifty-seven  capitalizations  not  war- 
ranted by  good  usage,  and  on  the  following  page,  a  single 
mathematical  term  is  spelled  or  abbreviated  in  four  dif- 
ferent ways,  none  of  which  has  the  warrant  of  good  math- 
ematical usage.  The  book  abounds  in  mathematical  state- 
ments either  faulty  in  form  or  wholly  incorrect  from  the 
standpoint  of  algebra  or  geometry. 

Many  of  the  so-called  '' practical  textbooks'^  are  far 
superior  to  the  one  just  described. 

Among  this  better  class  of  textbooks  is  the  Practical 
Mathematics  series  in  three  parts,  by  Mr.  C.  I.  Palmer 
of  the  Armour  Institute.  Part  I  presents  the  applica- 
tions of  arithmetic  in  well-selected  problems  illustrating 
both  mathematical  principles  and  their  practical  bearing 
upon  real  shop  experience.  The  author  finds,  however, 
that  he  must  use  some  ^  *  impractical' '  problems  in  order 
to  reinforce  certain  mathematical  principles  which  are 
involved  in  practical  problems  later,  but  which  are  in 
some  of  their  applications  too  difficult  for  beginning  stu- 
dents. His  procedure  in  this  regard  is  really  an  admis- 
sion of  the  fact  which  has  long  been  recognized  by  prac- 
tical teachers  that  real  problems  taken  from  actual  jobs 
seldom  constitute  the  best  problem  material  for  the  fix- 
ation of  mathematical  principles  and  processes.  Part  II 
of  this  series  presents  the  applications  of  geometry  and 
many  of  the  problems  are  real  shop  problems.  The  au- 
thor makes  no  claim  to  mathematical  rigor  in  his  ex- 
planation of  geometrical  principles,  but  his  statements 
are  clear  and  true  so  far  as  they  go.  Part  III  of  this 
series  is  entitled  ' '  algebra. ' '  This  book  is  open  to  a  crit- 
icism which  applies  to  most  books  on  *  *  practical ' '  mathe- 
matics. It  advances  rather  too  rapidly  in  difficulty,  and 
does  not  give  enough  problems  for  drill.    The  treatment 


134  Study  of  Corporation  Schools 

of  anti-logarithms  (page  127)  is  faulty  from  a  mathemat- 
ical standpoint.  On  the  whole  this  series  of  books  satis- 
fies the  criteria  set  up  for  the  judgment  of  textbooks. 

Mr.  J.  W.  L.  Hale,  supervisor  of  apprentices  of  the 
Pennsylvania  Railroad  Company,  is  the  author  of  a  series 
of  shop-mathematics  textbooks  which  easily  pass  all  our 
criteria.  "These  books  are  the  outgrowth  of  five  years 
of  work  with  shop  employees",  and  they  are  organized 
with  a  due  regard  for,  and  a  full  knowledge  of,  the  lim- 
itations and  the  requirements  of  these  students. 

Vocational  MatJiematics,  by  Mr.  W.  H.  Dooley,  ex- 
plains in  greater  detail  than  most  shop-mathematics 
textbooks,  shop  terms,  materials,  and  processes.  This 
author  does  not  make  the  mistake  which  some  make,  of 
taking  for  granted  that  a  boy  knows  things  simply  be- 
cause he  works  in  a  shop. 

Another  book  examined,  Advanced  SJiop  Matlie- 
maticsy  is  a  compilation  of  shop-mathematics  sheets 
worked  out  in  the  extension  department  of  the  Univer- 
sity of  Wisconsin.  The  explanations  of  processes  and 
principles  are  primarily  intended  for  private  study  and 
are  exceptionally  full  and  clear. 

The  Elements  of  Applied  Matlieynatics,  by  Mr.  H.  E. 
Cobb,  of  Lewis  Institute,  presents  mathematical  prin- 
ciples without  regard  to  whether  they  come  from  arith- 
metic, algebra,  geometry,  or  trigonometry.  One  good 
feature  of  this  book  is  that  in  many  of  the  problems,  the 
students  are  required  to  secure  their  data  by  actual 
measurements  which  they  make  in  the  shops.  This  book 
readily  passes  the  test  of  our  criteria. 

Another  text,  by  Norris  and  Craigo,  readily  passes 
most  of  the  criteria,  though  it  is  rather  loose  in  several 
places  from  the  mathematical  standpoint.  They  say 
(page  17)  :  "Two  minus  signs  make  a  plus  sign,"  and 
on  page  25  use  the  word  "transpose"  in  a  manner  hardly 
acceptable  to  a  mathematician. 


Textbooks  135 

Mr.  J.  R.  Young  reports''^  that  he  has  examined  a  num- 
ber of  mathematics  textbooks  used  in  corporation  schools. 
He  summarizes  his  examination  as  follows :  ' 'In  general, 
the  writers  of  texts  for  these  schools  have  succeeded  re- 
markably well  in  securing  clear  and  simple  statements  of 
the  fundamental  principles  of  arithmetic,  and  some  of 
the  makers  of  more  advanced  texts  could  study  their  rules 
and  definitions  with  profit. ' ' 

The  writer  agrees  in  part  with  this  statement,  but  in 
his  opinion  the  majority  of  ''corporation  school  text- 
books" are  subject  to  the  criticism  that  they  are  too  brief, 
increase  in  difficulty  too  rapidly,  and  take  too  much  for 
granted  in  the  matter  of  students'  preparation  and 
ability.  Mr.  H.  E.  Cobb,  of  Lewis  Institute,  says:^  "It 
is  no  doubt  true  that  most  books  of  practical  mathematics 
give  so  little  attention  to  the  explanation  of  the  elemen- 
tary mathematical  processes  that  it  is  almost  impossible 
for  a  man  studying  by  himself  to  get  a  clear  under- 
standing of  methods  and  processes. 

The  statement  is  frequently  made  that  the  "general" 
text  book  is  not  adapted  to  the  corporation  school,  and 
this  criticism  is,  in  a  measure,  true.  The  dominant  char- 
acteristic of  corporation  school  training  is  its  specificity, 
that  is,  its  direct  application  to  particular  work  for  which 
students  are  preparing,  and  in  so  far  as  this  training  is 
for  specific  processes  in  specific  occupations,  the  general 
textbook  is  a  misfit. 

In  the  foregoing  comparisons  of  corporation  school 
textbooks  with  the  general  textbook,  the  writer  has  kept 
in  mind  the  "best"  general  textbook  as  determined  by  the 
criteria  set  up  at  the  beginning  of  this  chapter.  These 
comparisons  warrant  the  conclusion  that  corporation 
school  textbooks  are  on  the  whole  more  specific  and  show 
a  superior  adaptation  of  lesson  material  to  the  ends  de- 


''School  Science  and  Mathematics,  March,  1917,  p.  243. 
^School  Science  and  Mathematics,  January,  1917,  p.  94. 


136  Study  or  Coepoeation  Schools 

sired;  but  that  they  are  more  commonly  subject  to  the 
faults  of  advancing  too  rapidly  in  difficulty,  and  of  tak- 
ing too  much  for  granted  on  the  part  of  students ;  and 
that  they  more  frequently  show  careless  editing,  poor 
work  on  the  part  of  the  compositor,  and  careless  proof 
reading, 

2.  Lesson  Sheets 

Several  of  the  textbooks  which  have  been  examined 
contain  in  their  prefatory  pages,  the  statement  that  they 
are  a  compilation  of  lesson  sheets  which  have  been  worked 
out  in  the  shop  school  and  which  have  stood  the  test  of 
several  years  of  service.  A  number  of  corporation  school 
instructors  have  reported  that  their  textbooks  are  still 
in  the  lesson  sheet  form.  The  lesson  sheet  is  widely  used 
in  corporation  schools  and  some  corporation  school  in- 
structors^ claim  that  they  are  the  only  suitable  lesson 
material.  There  is  no  logical  reason  why  loose-leaf  lesson 
sheets  should  not  be  a  most  satisfactory  form  of  lesson 
material. 

As  in  case  of  textbooks,  among  the  thirty-one  sets 
of  lesson  sheets  examined,  both  extremes  of  quality 
have  been  found.  They  are  not  free  from  ** impractical' ' 
or  obsolete  material.  To  illustrate  this  point,  the  follow- 
ing problem  is  quoted  from  a  set  of  lesson  sheets  supposed 
to  be  based  upon  shop  experience.  ''Four  locomotives 
consume  respectively,  390  lbs,  543  lbs,  621  lbs,  and  464 
lbs  of  coal  per  hour.  How  much  coal  will  they  all  use  in 
an  hour?  How  much  will  they  consume  running  night 
and  day  for  a  weekf  This  is  not  even  a  possible  ''prac- 
tical** problem.  The  number  of  such  illustrations  might 
be  multiplied  almost  without  limit,  emphasizing  the  fact 
that  the  making  of  lesson  sheets  is  not  an  amateur's  job. 

Several  lesson  sheets  which  have  been  examined, 
which  undertake  to  present  the  subject  of  business  psy- 

*Ref.  19,  p.  200  et  »eq. 


Textbooks  137 

ecology,  would  not  pass  muster  with  any  modern  psy- 
chologist. In  no  field  of  applied  science  has  there  been 
a  greater  reversal  or  abandonment  of  former  theories  and 
practices  than  in  the  field  of  educational  psychology.  The 
old  faculty  theory  of  mind  has  been  abandoned  by  prac- 
tically all  modern  psychologists,  together  with  the  theories 
of  training  these  ' '  faculties. ' '  In  view  of  this  situation, 
the  following  construct  of  the  human  mind  quoted  from 
the  lesson  sheets  on  business  psychology  issued  by  the 
Telephone  Society  of  the  Mountain  States  is  in  point : 

"It  may  be  said  that  there  are  eight  attributes  of  mind  which  follow 
each  other  in  a  certain  sequence:  attention,  interest,  concentration,  com- 
prehension, decision,  will,  reason,  memory.  All  persons  think,  but  all  do 
not  think  rightly.  To  think  rightly,  the  mind  must  be  trained,  so  that  the 
•ight  attributes  will  follow  each  other  in  proper  sequence,  thus  progressing  to- 
ward the  conclusion  by  successive  steps.  When  a  subject  first  comes  to 
our  notice,  we  give  it  attention;  if  it  is  attractive  we  become  interested;  if 
it  seems  to  be  important  we  concentrate  our  thoughts  upon  it  until  we 
comprehend  its  purpose;  then  we  make  a  decision  as  to  whether  or  not  it 
is  of  sufficient  importance  to  warrant  further  consideration.  If  it  does  not 
seem  to  be  of  sufficient  importance,  we  think  no  more  about  it,  but  if  we 
decide  that  further  consideration  of  it  will  result  in  fulfilling  our  require- 
ments along  certain  lines  we  exert  our  will  constantly  to  the  study  of  the 
subject,  and  thus  through  a  process  of  reasoning,  we  store  the  knowledge 
in  our  memory  which  finally  results  in  the  building  up  of  an  education." 

Another  lesson  sheet  says :  ' '  We  live  in  habit.  Good 
habits  are  as  easily  formed  as  bad  ones  .  .  .  .  "  These 
quotations  which  are  typical  of  the  psychological  theory 
contained  in  many  lesson  sheets  and  textbooks  on  the 
psychology  of  business  indicate  a  lack  both  of  broad  schol- 
arship and  care  in  their  preparation. 

Another  fault  of  loose-leaf  lesson  sheets  is  the  dis- 
regard they  seem  to  exhibit  for  logical  sequence  of  course 
topics.  This  point  is  illustrated  in  a  set  of  lesson  sheets 
on  mechanical  drawing  in  which  the  early  lessons  are 
simple  working  drawings  of  machine  parts,  while  the 
fundamental  problems  of  drawing  perpendiculars,  par- 
allels and  bisectors  are  found  much  later  in  the  course. 

Still  another  serious  fault  in  lesson  sheets  grows  out 
of  the  fact  that  they  are  easily  replaced,  and  are  de- 
signed for  temporary,  rather  than  for  permanent  use. 


138  Study  op  Corporation  Schools 

This  fault  is  evident  in  careless  editing,  poor  printing, 
poor  paper  and  poor  proof-reading  which  frequently  in- 
jures an  otherwise  good  set  of  lesson  sheets.  Mr.  Young^^^ 
says  of  the  arithmetic  used  in  the  Santa  Fe  Railway  Sys- 
tem's  apprenticeship  school:  ''There  is  little  organiza- 
tion to  the  problems  that  points  to  any  special  method  of 
approach,  ....  and  it  was  printed  without  considera- 
tion for  the  eyes  of  the  apprentice.  The  print  is  exceed- 
ingly small. '^  The  writer's  examination  of  this  set  of 
lessons  confirms  the  above  comment. 

These  faults  are,  of  course,  not  inherent  in  lesson 
sheets.  The  fact  that  they  are  used  so  commonly,  and 
with  such  satisfactory  results  to  corporation  school  di- 
rectors^i  indicates  that  they  merit  the  tribute  paid  to 
them  by  a  well-known  publisher  of  commercial  text-books. 
He  says :  * '  We  are  indebted  to  corporation  schools,  for 
they  are  ' road  makers'  in  the  way  of  textbooks.  We  have 
adopted  into  our  texts  for  public  and  private  schools 
many  of  the  ideas  of  the  lesson  sheets  worked  out  in  the 
laboratories  of  these  schools. ' '  Many  lesson  sheets  show 
a  thorough  mastery  of  the  subject  treated,  great  care  in 
the  preparation  of  lesson  material,  and  an  admirable 
adaptation  to  the  purpose  or  aim  of  the  course  in  ques- 
tion. 

Among  this  class  of  lesson  sheets  are  those  used  by 
the  Western  Electric  Company  in  mechanical  drawing, 
in  practical  mathematics,  and  in  business  English ;  by  the 
International  Harvester  Company,  in  shop  mathematics 
and  mechanical  drawing,  and  by  Swift  and  Company  in 
practical  arithmetic.  The  lesson  sheets  prepared  by  H.  G. 
Petermann  for  the  training  of  clerks  and  salesmen  for  the 
United  Cigar  Stores  Company  are  an  example  of  the 
specificity  of  the  lesson  material  contained  in  good  lesson 
sheets.    These  lesson  sheets  undertake  to  equip  cigar  store 

*>See  Reference  7,  of  this  Chapter. 
"Ref.  19,  pp.  200  et  teq. 


Textbooks  139 

salesmen  with  an  accurate  knowledge  of  what  to  do  and 
what  to  say  in'  any  situation  which  may  arise.  Marshall 
Field  and  Company's  spelling  lesson  sheets  also  show  a 
good  adaptation  of  specific  materials  to  specific  ends. 

That  lesson  sheets  have  some  decided  advantages  over 
textbooks,  will  scarcely  be  questioned,  but  that  they  are 
subject  to  most  of  the  faults  of  textbooks  and  some  others 
besides  is  equally  true.  A  clear,  simple  literary  style, 
broad  and  up-to-date  knowledge,  accuracy  of  statement, 
careful  editing,  and  good  printing  are  requirements  that 
apply  to  lesson  sheets  fully  as  much  as  to  textbooks. 

The  chief  advantages  of  loose-leaf  lesson  sheets  are: 

a)  they  are  readily  reorganized  and  revised; 

b)  they  bring  a  feeling  of  novelty  with  each  new  lesson; 

c)  they  bring  to  the  students  a  suggestion  of  a  nearer  approach^  to 

real  business ; 

d)  they   are  more   flexible,   permitting   the   adaptation   of   a   course   to 

local  conditions,  to  particular  classes,  and  to  individual  students. 

The  serious  faults  to  which  they  are  subject  are: 

ft)   poor  organization,  and  lack  of  coherence  and  unity, 

b)  a  tendency  to  faulty  sequence  of  course  topics, 

c)  lack  of  broad  scholarship,  and 

d)  careless  editing   and  poor   printing. 

A  summary  of  these  discussions  of  textbooks  and  les- 
son sheets,  in  the  writer's  opinion,  warrants  the  conclu- 
sion that,  on  the  whole,  public  secondary  schools  and 
technical  schools  use  better  organized  lesson  materials 
than  do  corporation  schools. 

i2Ref.  27,  p.  202. 


140  Study  of  Corporation  Schools 


PART  THREE 

•Chapter  IX 

Summary  of  Conclusions — The  Cooperative  School,  a 
Solution  of  the  problem  of  vocational  Education 

It  is  now  in  order  to  discuss  the  corporation  school 
from  the  point  of  view  of  the  main  question  of  this  study : 
* '  In  what  way  can  the  corporation  school  and  the  public 
school  be  mutually  helpful  in  the  solution  of  the  problem 
of  vocational  education  ? ' ' 

The  need  for  vocational  education  has  been  gradually 
dawning  upon  the  American  people  for  the  past  three 
decades,  and  society  is  now  fully  awake  to  its  importance. 
While  the  movement  is  still  in  its  formative  state,  it  has 
become  crystallized  in  the  foundations  established  by  pri- 
vate agencies,!  in  the  legislation  of  nine^  states  and  many 
municipalities.^  The  main  outstanding  feature  of  the 
movement,  aside  from  its  real  purpose,  is  the  lack  of 
agreement  as  to  the  best  means  of  providing  vocational 
training. 

Before  undertaking  to  answer  the  question  as  to  how 
the  corporation  school  may  contribute  to  the  solution  of 
the  problem,  it  is  pertinent  to  summarize  some  recognized 
fundamental  principles  as  to  the  character  of  education 
in  a  democracy.^    The  course  of  evolution  through  which 

^National  Society  for  the  Promotion  of  Industrial  Education;  Americaa 
Federation  of  Labor,  Com.  on  Industrial  Education;  National  Education 
Association,  Com.  on  Vocational  Education ;  National  Association  of  Manu- 
facturers, Com.  on  Industrial  Education,  Refs.  24,  28,  28a.  80;  Ref.  24, 
p.    232. 

'Reports  Commissioner  of  Education,  1914-'15-'16. 

»See  Tables  III  and  VIII. 

^Elliot,  C.  W.  Fmiction  of  Education  in  a  Democratic  State.  Mann 
Horace,  The  Ground  for  the  Free  School  System.  Ref.  40,  pp.  97  et  »eq. 
Ref.  41.  Chap.  III. 


Summary  of  Conclusions  141 

these  principles  have  come,  the  bitter  conflict,  the  heroic 
battles,  the  temporary  defeats,  the  discouraging  reces- 
sions, and  the  final  triumph,  constitute  some  of  the  most 
romantic  and  heroic  pages  in  the  history  of  the  growth 
of  democratic  principles.  It  is  not  pertinent  here  to  re- 
cite the  story,  except  to  enumerate  the  results.  These 
fundamental  principles  of  education  in  America  are : 

1.  Education  in  a  Democracy  Must  Be  Universal.^ 

This  principle  means  that  the  door  of  opportunity 
must  be  open  to  all ;  limited  only  by  the  ability  of  society 
to  provide  the  opportunity,  and  by  the  pupil's  intellec- 
tual and  physical  ability  to  profit  by  it. 

2.  Education  in  a  Democracy  Must  Be  Free. 

The  assumption  by  society  of  the  financial  burden  of 
educating  its  citizens  has  come  about  only  after  a  long 
and  bitter  struggle,  and  while  the  acknowledgement  is 
almost  universal  in  America,  the  universal  practical  ap- 
plication of  this  ideal  is  still  unrealized.  Yet  this  realiza- 
tion is  approaching  fulfillment,  as  is  evidenced  by  added 
educational  opportunity  and  increased  appropriations  for 
education  every  year.^ 

3.  Education  in  a  Democracy  Must  Be  Compulsory. 

This  principle,  long  ago  accepted  in  Europe,  and 
nominally  accepted  in  America  quite  as  early,  is  the  latest 
one  to  be  acknowledged  by  public  sentiment;  and  even 
now  several  states,  and  many  individuals  have  not 
reached  the  point  where  they  are  willing  to  act  upon  this 
principle.^ 


»Ryf.  1.  pp.  97-98. 

'Report  Commissioner  of  Education,  1916.     Vol.  II,  p.  8. 

^Monroe's  Cyclopedia  of  Education. 


142  Study  of  Corporation  Schools 

4.  Education  in  a  Democracy  Must  Be  Non-Sec- 

tarian. 

This  principle  means  that  education,  in  order  best  to 
serve  democratic  ideals,  must  not  be  subject  to  any  control 
more  restrictive  than  the  broadest  ideals  of  a  democratic 
state.  This  principle  is  inherent  in  American  Democ- 
racy.^ 

5.  Education  in  a  Democracy  Must  Be  a  Socializ- 

ing Factor,  and  Must  Contribute  to  Social 
Efficiency. 

This  principle  means  that  education  must  ''bring  peo- 
ple and  classes  into  closer  and  more  perceptible  connec- 
tion with  one  another.  It  means  not  only  freer  inter- 
action between  social  groups  ....  but  change  in  so- 
cial habit,  and  continuous  readjustment."^  Social  effi- 
ciency,— i.  e.,  the  ability  of  the  individual  to  act  his  part 
as  a  social  unit,  supporting  himself  and  contributing  to 
the  common  good  in  proportion  to  his  intellectual  and 
physical  endowment,  and  placing  a  minimum  of  burden 
upon  society  in  case  of  deficiency  in  these  gifts — is  soci- 
ety's  chief  warrant  for  the  establishment  and  mainte- 
nance of  schools.  ^^ 

6.  Education  in  a  Democracy  Must  Be  Controlled 
;  BY  THE  State. 

This  principle  has  been  accepted  only  after  control  by 
the  family,  by  the  church,  and  by  private  or  philan- 
thropic enterprise,  has  been  found  wanting,  and  only 
after  the  state  has  become  conscious  that  its  own  perman- 
ence can  only  be  assured  by  universal  education  under 
state  control.^  ^ 


"Ruffini,    Francesco,    Religious   Libert}/,   trans,   by   Burg   and   Hajrnea 
Ref.  46,  pp.  228-5.  , 

•Ref.  40,  pp.  99100. 
wRef.  41,  Chap.  IH. 
"Ref,  40,  pp.  108-116,  Ref.  16,  p.  874,  Ref.  22,  p.  775. 


Summary  of  Conclusions  143 

The  application  of  these  six  principles  to  vocational 
education,  as  well  as  to  general  education,  is  now  so 
nearly  universally  accepted  in  the  United  States  that 
their  universal  acceptation  may  be  assumed.  '  These  six 
fundamental  principles  constitute  a  measuring  rod  by 
which  may  be  gauged  the  efficiency  of  the  service  to  the 
community  of  any  individual  school,  or  any  system  or 
type  of  schools.^  In  the  following  paragraphs,  this  meas- 
uring rod  is  applied  to  the  corporation  school. 

The  corporation  school  cannot  become  universal.  It  is 
now  reaching  less  than  one  half  of  one  per  cent  of  the 
industrial  workers  in  the  United  States.  ^  2  Business  rea- 
sons require  the  corporation  school  to  select  the  best  and 
to  eliminate  the  inferior  applicants.  This  selection^^  is 
the  one  feature  which  has  for  the  past  decade  arrayed  the 
American  Federation  of  Labor^*  against  any  form  of 
privately  controlled  vocational  education.  In  addition 
to  this  selective  feature,  financial  and  geographical  limi- 
tations are  further  reasons  why  the  corporation  school 
cannot  become  universal,  and  all  are  reasons  why  it  can- 
not become  compulsory  or  free.  The  question  as  to  its 
non-sectarian  character  needs  no  discussion. 

The  corporation  school  contributes  to  social  effi- 
ciency ;i^  it  may  also  be  controlled  to  a  limited  degree 
by  the  state,  as  is  the  case  of  many  such  schools  in 
European  countries. ^^  These  two  conditions  lead  the 
writer  to  the  conclusion  that  some  form  of  cooperative 
organization  between  the  corporation  school  and  the  pub- 
lic school  will  be  the  chief  factor  in  the  ultimate  solu- 
tion of  the  problem  of  vocational  education.  This  point 
is  developed  further  in  the  concluding  paragraphs  of 
this  chapter. 

"See  Chapter  III. 

"See  Chapter  III;   also  Ref.  19,  pp.  715-716;  Ref.  31,  p.  126. 

"Refs.  24  and  25. 

«See  Chapter  IV. 

"Ref.  20. 


144  Study  of  Corporation  Schools 

The  discussion  of  corporation  school  efficiency  in 
Chapter  IV  shows  that : 

1.  They  tend  to  produce  an  adequate  supply  of  young  employees  to 

meet  the  demands  of  industry. 

2.  They  supply  the  demand  for  men  qualified  for  promotion  to  higher 

positions. 

3.  They  improve  the  character  of  work  and  the  quality  of  the  products. 

4.  They  reduce  the  turn  over  of  labor,  or  increase  the  tenure  of  em- 

ployees. 

5.  They  tend  to  reduce  waste  of  materials  and  the  number  of  accidents 

by  improving   working   conditions  and  by  reducing   carelessness 
and  ignorance. 

The  conclusions  of  Chapter  V  were  that  the  teaching 
in  public  secondary  schools  and  technical  schools  is  su- 
perior to  the  teaching  in  corporation  schools  in : 

a)  classroom  management, 

b)  definiteness  of  aim, 

c)  assignment  of  lessons, 

d)  breadth  of  view, 

e)  development  of  culture, 

f)  and  recitation  technique, 

and  that  the  teaching  in  corporation  schools  is  supe- 
rior in : 

g)  responsiveness  of  class, 
h)   mental  discipline,  and 

i)   class  attitude  toward  learning. 

The  conclusion  of  Chapter  VI  is  that  the  corporation 
school  has  what  seem  to  be  inherent  advantages  over 
public  secondary  schools  and  technical  schools  in  such 
motives  and  incentives  as : 

a)  the  relation  of  employer  and  employee, 

b)  pecuniary  interest, 

c)  the  shop  situation,  and 

d)  real  problems. 

The  conclusion  of  Chapter  VII  is  that  the  curricula 
and  courses  of  public  secondary  schools  and  technical 
schools  show,  on  the  whole,  a  better  logical  and  pedagog- 
ical organization  than  those  of  corporation  schools,  and 
that  the  latter  are  superior  in  being  more  specific  and  in 
having  a  closer  relation  between  the  materials  employed 
and  the  ends  sought,  and  that  some  show  a  decided  su- 
periority in  time  allotments. 


Summary  of  Conclusions  145 

The  conclusion  of  Chapter  VIII  is  that,  in  the  matter 
of  textbooks  and  lesson  sheets,  public  secondary  schools 
and  technical  schools  are  using  better  organized  lesson 
materials  than  corporationi  schools  are  using. 

The  opening  paragraphs  of  the  present  chapter  stated 
the  six  fundamental  principles  upon  which  education  in  a 
democracy  must  be  based,  and  the  limitations  upon  the 
corporation  school  which  prevent  it  from  being  consid- 
ered a  satisfactory  solution  of  the  problem  of  universal 
vocational  education.  It  was  pointed  out,  however,  that 
the  corporation  school  through  its  contribution  to  voca- 
tional efficiency,  may  be  an  important  factor  in  that 
solution.  While  a  complete  and  satisfactory  solution  of 
the  problem  of  vocational  education  has  not  been  found 
in  any  of  the  phases  of  vocational  education  which  have 
been  studied,  in  the  writer's  opinion  the  cooperative 
trade  and  continuation  school  is  a  nearer  approach  to 
that  solution  than  is  offered  by  any  other  plan. 

The  reasons  upon  w^ich  this  conclusion  is  based  are 
as  follows : 

1.  The  cooperative  trade  and  continuation  school 

meets  in  actual  practice,  or  can  readily  be 
made  to  meet,  all  the  conditions  of  the  six 
fundamental  principles  formulated  above. 

2.  In  the  cooperative  trade  and  continuation  school, 

it  is  possible  to  combine  all  the  points  of  su- 
periority of  the  public  secondary  schools  and 
technical  schools  and  of  corporation  schools 
which  have  been  found  in  the  matter  of  in- 
struction, methods,  motives,  lesson  materials, 
and  curricula. 

3.  The  cooperative  trade  and  continuation  school  is 

a  success  in  actual  practice. 

4.  The  cooperative  trade  and  continuation  school 

has  the  sanction  of  many  of  the  educators, 
business  men,  labor  leaders,  legislators  and 


146  Study  of  Corporation  Schools 

social  workers  who  have  given  most  thought 
to  the  matter  of  vocational  and  industrial  edu- 
cation. 

The  experience  of  several  states^ ^  and  numerous 
municipalities  in  the  United  States  in  establishing  and 
conducting  some  form  of  continuation  school  or  coopera- 
tive trade  school  demonstrates  the  first  of  these  proposi- 
tions, and  the  experience  of  Germany,  France  and  Eng- 
land in  establishing  and  maintaining  such  schools  is 
further  evidence  on  this  point.^^ 

The  second  proposition  is  based  upon  the  evidence  of 
this  study  presented  in  Chapters  IV  to  VIII,  inclusive, 
which  shows  that  corporation  schools  are  superior  in  those 
phases  of  organization  and  administration  of  instruction 
in  which  public  schools  are  confessedly  weak,  while  these 
are  strong  where  corporation  schools  are  weak.  The  co- 
operative trade  and  continuation  school  furnishes  the 
essential  conditions  for  emphasizing  these  strong  points 
and  for  eliminating  or  minimizing  these  weaknesses. 

The  third  proposition  is  justified  by  the  information 
which  the  writer  has  collected  by  personal  observation 
and  otherwise.  Company  officials  are  unanimous  in  the 
statement  that  among  the  results  of  cooperation  are  the 
advantages  discussed  in  Chapter  IV.  Among  the  coop- 
erative schools  visited  was  the  Cass  Technical  High  School 
of  Detroit,  which  is  working  in  cooperation  with  thirty- 
one  companies.  These  companies  report  that  their  em- 
ployees are  from  fifty  to  one  hundred  per  cent  better 
workmen  because  of  the  instruction  received  in  the  con- 
tinuation school.  So  satisfactory  is  the  work  that  there 
is  at  present  (February,  1917)  a  long  waiting  list  of  ap- 

^^Vocational  Education,  Reports  Oommissioner  of  Education,  1914'- 
16-16. 

>«Befs.  18,  21. 

**0ircular:  Industrial  Part-time  Oontinuation  Olassea,  Oass  Techni- 
cal High  School. 


Summary  of  Conclusions  147 

plicants  for  admission.  ^^  This  school  offers  both  trade 
and  continuation  courses. 

The  writer  has  also  secured  information  from  a  large 
number  of  other  schools,  either  through  school  authori- 
ties or  cooperating  concerns,  and  this  evidence  substan- 
tiates the  statement  that  the  cooperative  school  is  success- 
ful. The  National  Cash  Kegister  Company  of  Dayton, 
Ohio,  is  working  in  cooperation  with  the  Dayton  High 
School,  and  Mr.  Adkins,  for  the  Company,  pronounces 
the  work  a  success. ^o 

The  cooperative  school  seems  to  be  a  natural  out- 
growth of  the  corporation  school.  The  R.  Hoe  Printing 
Press  Company,  of  New  York  City,  which  established  the 
first  corporation  school  in  the  United  States  has  recently 
(1915)  entered  into  an  agreement  whereby  the  city  Board 
of  Education  supplies  all  the  teachers  for  the  academic 
work  of  the  apprenticeship  school. ^i  The  General  Elec- 
tric Company,  of  Schenectady,  New  York,  which  has  main- 
tained a  training  department  for  many  years  has  recently 
entered  into  a  similar  agreement  with  the  Board  of  Edu- 
cation of  Schenectady,22  and  the  plan  is  still  (1916)  in 
operation.  Many  similar  cases  are  reported  from  Eng- 
land.23 

The  Seventeenth  Annual  Report  of  the  Superintendent 
of  Schools  of  New  York  shows  that  ten  high  schools  are 
cooperating  with  sixty-three  firms  covering  twenty-three 
occupations.  The  report  also  shows  that  cooperating 
schools  are  maintained  in  twenty-six  business  houses,  in- 
cluding department  stores,  hotels,  railroad  shops,  and 
public  service  companies.  In  these  schools  the  companies 
furnish  the  schoolrooms  and  the  board  of  education,  the 
teachers.  This  report  states  ten  conclusions  based  upon 
experience.    Two  of  these  are :  ''  The  industry  profits  by 

»>Ref.  19,  pp.  308-814. 

«jjgf    27.  p.  132. 

«Ref.  19,  pp.  287-288. 

»Ref.  18,  pp.  282,  289,  294,  301,  370. 


148 


Study  of  Corporation  Schools 


the  plan  by  securing  better  employees. ' '  "  The  plan  does 
not  necessarily  prolong  the  period  of  high-school  attend- 
ance for  graduation. ' ' 

Table  VIII  shows  a  partial  list  of  cooperating  schools 
and  companies  from  whom  information  has  been  secured. 


TABLE  VIII. 


Companies 


Schools 


Brighton  Mills 

Burroughs  Adding  Machine  Co. 
Chicago  Telephone  Co. 
Consolidated  Oas,   Elec.   Light  and 

Power  Co. 
Simonds  Manufacturing  Co, 

and  nine  other  companies. 
United  Shoe  Machinery  Co. 
Six  Companies 
■Phirty-nine  printing   companies 

Six  Department  stores 

Sixty-three   companies 
Twenty-six  other  organizations 
aside  from  the  above 


Passaic  N.  J.  H.  S. 

Cass  Technical  H.  S.  Detroit 

Central  Y.  M.  C.  A. 

Baltimore  Night  School 

Fitchburg,  Mass.  H.  S. 

Beverly,  Mass.  H.  S. 

York,  Pa.  H.  S. 

Chicago      Typothetae      School      of 

Printing 
Union     School     of     Salesmanship, 

Boston 
New  York  City  High  Schools 
New  York  Board  of  Education 

(schools  in   company  buildings). 


If  to  this  list  be  added  the  schools  for  higher  training 
listed  in  Table  III  the  momentum  of  the  cooperative 
movement  may  be  appreciated.  The  reports  from  these 
schools  and  the  companies  cooperating  with  them  show 
no  disposition  to  doubt  that  the  cooperative  school  is  a 
satisfactory  and  permanent  solution  of  the  problem  of 
vocational  education. 

The  fourth  proposition  is  a  matter  of  the  weight  of 
cumulative  opinion.  While  the  cooperative  plan  of  voca- 
tional education  does  not  enjoy  unanimous  support  of 
those  who  are  interested  in  the  problem,  it  does  have  the 
support  of  many  of  the  strong  men  in  this  field. 

Mr.  C.  A.  Prosser,  says^*  that  the  continuation  school 
under  state  support  and  control  is  the  most  modern  and 
up-to-date  means  of  educating  the  young  worker. 

Dr.  David  Snedden,  until  recently  Commissioner  of 
Education  of  Massachusetts,  says^^  that  the  part-time 


«N.  A.  0.  S.  Bulletin,  July,  1916. 
»Ref.  22a,  p.  49. 


Summary  of  Conclusions  149 

cooperative  school  is  destined  to  become  a  permanent 
form  of  vocational  education,  and  that  nothing  short  of 
legislation  compelling  town  and  shop  to  cooperate,  will 
ever  give  to  us,  as  it  gave  to  early  England  and  modern 
Germany,  a  national  system  of  industrial  education.  He 
says  further  that  the  belief  is  rapidly  gaining  ground, 
that  a  large  part  of  vocational  education  should  be  ob- 
tained through  actual  participation  in  the  pursuit,  under 
commercial  conditions,  of  the  occupation  itself,  but  so 
controlled  as  to  make  education  rather  than  earnings  the 
chief  objective,  and  that  such  participation  must  be 
under  the  direction  of  the  agency  responsible  for  the 
effective  vocational  education  of  the  novice. 

The  Hon.  W.  C.  Redfield  says:26  '^What  is  needed  is 
a  complete  system  of  vocational  education  with  due  rela- 
tion to  industry. ' ' 

The  Report  of  the  Committee  on  Vocational  Educa- 
tion of  the  National  Education  Association,  composed  of 
twelve  prominent  educators  and  representative  men  in- 
terested in  vocational  education  states  :2'''  "that  theoretic- 
ally vocational  education  under  the  cooperative  system 
should  ultimately  prove  most  effective,  depending  upon 
the  effective  coordination  of  the  separate  agencies, ^^  .  . 
.  .  and  experience  has  shown  that  this  coordination  is 
perfectly  possible.'' 

Dr.  Clifford  B.  Conelley,  of  the  Carnegie  Institute 
of  Technology,  expresses  the  opinion  that  if  we  take  away 
the  direct  backing  of  the  corporation  and  leave  the  cor- 
poration school  with  all  its  essential  details  as  organized 
by  the  company,  we  have  the  school  best  fitted  for  modern 
conditions.  This  would  really  be  the  continuation 
school.29 

R.  S.  Cooley,  director  of  continuation  schools  in  Mil- 

2«N.  A.  C.  S.  Bulletin,  July,  1916. 

^^Bureau  of  Education,  Bulletin  21,  1916. 

^Report  Committee  on  Vocational  Education,  N.  E.  A.  1916. 

""Journal  N.  E.  A.  pp.  412  et  aeq.  1916. 


150  Study  op  Coeporation  Schools 

waukee,  states^^  that  *'In  one  year,  the  continuation 
school  brought  back  into  school  5,000  young  people  under 
sixteen  years  of  age,  who  had  left  school  to  work. 

Dr.  George  Myers,^!  who  has  made  a  special  study 
of  vocational  education  in  Germany,  concludes  that  any 
satisfactory  solution  of  the  problem  of  vocational  educa- 
tion must  include  some  form  of  cooperative  school  work, 
and  that  the  continuation  school  idea  is  growing  in 
Prussia. 

Supt.  John  D.  Shoop,  of  the  Chicago  schools  empha- 
sizes the  fact  that  vocational  education  must  come 
through  cooperation.  * '  The  interplay  of  interest  between 
the  school  and  the  shop,  the  classroom  and  the  commer- 
cial world,  constitute  the  most  promising  and  hopeful 
indication  of  the  final  solution  of  the  problem  of  voca- 
tional education. ''32 

Conclusion 

The  argument  of  this  summary  of  conclusions,  of  per- 
sonal opinions,  and  of  committee  resolutions,  is  further 
strengthened  by  the  facts  that,  within  the  past  five  years 
seven  states  have  provided  by  legislation's  for  some  form 
of  cooperative  or  continuation  school  for  industrial  and 
vocational  training,  and  congressional  enactment  in  the 
Smith-Hughes  Bill,^*  has  recently  provided  for  federal 
aid  for  vocational  education.  The  writer  believes  that 
this  evidence  justifies  the  conclusion  that  the  cooperative 
trade  and  continuation  school  is  the  solution  of  the  prob- 
lem of  vocational  education. 

»^op  eit. 

"Ref.  20. 

**Journal,  N.  E.  A.  Jan.  1917,  p.  112. 

•^Report  Commissioner  of  Education,  1916.      (see  also  next  Ref.) 

"Natl,   Society  for  the  Promotion  of  Indus.   Educ.  Bulletin  26. 


Summary  of  Conclusions  151 


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The  following  abbreviations  are  used: 

N.  E.  A.  National  Education  Association 

N.   S.  P.  I.  E.  National  Society  for  tlie  Promotion  of  Industrial  Edu- 
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N.  A.  0.  S.  National  Association  of  Corporation  Schools. 


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13.  Webster,  C.  W.  History  of  Commerce. 

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